More than four out of five confirmed whooping cough (pertussis) cases strike children who are fully vaccinated, a new study warns, underscoring the need for children to stay up to date on their shots.
vaccineUp to age 7, kids have a five times higher whooping cough risk when they're three years out from their last shot, compared to the year immediately after vaccination, according to the report published online June 10 inAnd kids between 7 and 11 have double the risk if they are more than six years away from their last shot, compared with less than three years after, the findings showed.
Despite high vaccination rates, the United States and other countries have seen large whooping cough outbreaks since the 1990s, when a new acellular pertussis vaccine replaced the prior whole-cell pertussis vaccine, the researchers said in background notes.According to Dr. Kathryn Edwards, director of the Vaccine Research Program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.,"The old vaccine worked very well, but it was associated with a lot of local reactions and a lot of fever.
Vaccination rates among these children were strong. Only 1% went unvaccinated; 3% were undervaccinated. The statistics revealed that risk of whooping cough steadily increases the longer it's been since a child's last shot.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Whooping cough vaccine becomes less effective over time, study saysThe modern vaccine for whooping cough becomes less effective as children age, a new study shows, highlighting the need for new vaccines to protect children from the highly contagious disease.
Read more »
Chickenpox vaccine has an added benefit: shingles protectionThe new study, which included more than 6 million children, provides 'really strong evidence' that the vaccine prevents shingles.
Read more »
Study: Our Gut Bacteria May Be Dismantling The Pills We Take - What You Should KnowNew research reveals that our gut bacteria digest and metabolize many of the common drugs we take, and we're just now starting to understand the implications of this potentially big finding.
Read more »
Study Finds White Meat Just As Bad As Red MeatContradicting the long-held belief on the relative healthiness of meats like poultry, a new study found that white meat raises an individual’s cholesterol just as rapidly as red meat. What do you think?
Read more »
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants It To Be Easier To Study Magic Mushrooms & Other PsychedelicsAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed legislation encouraging the research of psychedelics such as psilocybin, which can benefit PTSD and depression.
Read more »