Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Fall 2005)

Pertussis, or whooping cough, cases have reached a 50-year high nationwide, doubling the number of infant deaths due to pertussis.

Two new vaccines will help protect infants, adolescents, and adults from pertussis’ potentially serious effects – coughing spells, choking, and breathlessness, which can lead to pneumonia, seizures, neurological problems and hospitalization.

“A major reason the new pertussis vaccines were developed is that pertussis is a highly contagious infection that’s clearly dangerous in infants and young children,” says Dr. Bruce Cooper, the Health District’s medical director.

Currently, children receive their last of a series of pertussis shots at age 5. That immunity wears off in 5 to 10 years, leaving 10- to 15-year-olds vulnerable again for the rest of their lives.

“Of all the pertussis cases that are reported, more than one-third are in kids ages 10-18,” Dr. Cooper says. “It makes sense that adolescents should be protected against pertussis.” 

Combining tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, either of the two new vaccines, Boostix and Adacel, are recommended to be given as a single booster dose to 11- to 18-year-olds who have had a childhood series containing pertussis vaccine.

“With Adacel, adults can now be immunized, too, which will help protect infants from being exposed to an infected adult,” says Ann Watson, health education and communications supervisor with Larimer County Department of Health and Environment.

A third new vaccine, Menactra, protects against meningitis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

“Although meningitis is rare – it’s more common in freshmen living in dorms and in military recruits living in barracks – it’s a devastating disease,” Dr. Cooper says. “One in five adolescents and young adults who get it die from it, and a significant percentage who survive have permanent effects, such as brain damage, hearing loss or amputation.”

The bacteria that cause meningitis also can cause blood poisoning with a significant probability of death, Dr. Cooper adds.

The new meningitis vaccine will provide longer-term immunity than the older vaccine.

Dr. Cooper recommends that children receive both the new pertussis and meningitis vaccines when they visit the doctor at ages 11-12 and that teens receive the vaccines during their pre-high school physical exam. Given the high demand for Menactra recently, possible shortages of the vaccine are anticipated over the next few months.