Pertussis Epidemic in Bay Area/CA? - Page 4

[slaggyc]

Has anyone found data yet on vaccinated/unvaccinated kids coming down with whooping cough. I still have not been able to find anything.

[bbrandonsmom]

You have to contact the CA health dept. I still don't have answers from them.

[cadejaxellamom]

I might need to post this in the health and healing section, but I was wondering when during the illness is it contagious, or the most contagious? Is it contagious the whole time the person has the cough, or at the start when the cold symptoms appear? I have a 3 week baby girl and my FIL has had a horrible cough that only bothers him at night, keeps him up and is real bad, but during the day he only coughs a couple times. I suggested to my husband over a month ago (maybe it was even 2 months ago) it could be WC, he's been told it was bronchitis and had been given inhalers (that don't work). I didn't think about it again until my daughter was born and they came to visit for the 4th of July weekend. My 2 1/2 year old daughter is also unvaxed. We are suppose to go up to where they live next weekend...I'm a little freaked out now.

[poppan]

My understanding is that it's most contagious at the beginning when there are just mild cold symptoms, through the beginning part of the cough. After you've been coughing a while (1-2 weeks) you are no longer contagious--I think the bacteria goes away by then.

[cadejaxellamom]

Originally Posted by poppan

My understanding is that it's most contagious at the beginning when there are just mild cold symptoms, through the beginning part of the cough. After you've been coughing a while (1-2 weeks) you are no longer contagious--I think the bacteria goes away by then.

Thanks for your quick response

[13Sandals]

Here is a chart from the CDC on pertussis deaths 2001-2003 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5450a3.htm

The page says there were 56 pertussis deaths in infants, 51 of them in infants under 6 months. That's an average of 17 infant deaths per year for three years.

We don't seem to be approaching that point right now. So why the alarm? Yes, it is tragic - every time pertussis is on a high - some small infants will die. But this has always been the case. Think of it. Pertussis vaccination has been in wide use since the 1940s. Adults and teens were not given boosters for 70 years. How can an increase in cases be the result of teens and adults not being vaccinated? Rubbish. There is no increase in pertussis deaths this year. But there is a giant increase in the diagnosing of teens and adults with the disease.

Secondly, according to the DAPTACEL insert:

The potency of the acellular pertussis vaccine components is determined by the antibody response of immunized mice to detoxified PT...

That's PT for 'pertussis toxin', not the pertussis bacteria. They separate a few components of the b. pertussis bacteria and 'clean' them - but since the insert admits that the bacteria... "produces a variety
of biologically active components, though their role in either the pathogenesis of, or immunity to, pertussis has not been clearly defined.", the entire idea that this vaccination stops the spread of disease is dubious at best. In other words, if they don't know what component of the bacteria cause illness or immunity, how much do you trust the vaccine to give you immunity? The only thing we really know is that it is effective against the PT (pertussis toxin), so if you are carrying the bacteria, you are a whole less likely to know about it.

So yes, the nyt is right about one thing: symptomatic pertussis is more common in the unvaccinated because the vaccine does protect against the pertussis toxin(PT) which causes the symptoms.