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[Who is it necessary to vaccine against whooping-cough?]
D Pinquier1, C Dumesnil, S Galène-Gromez
1Service de pédiatrie néonatale et réanimation, hôpital Charles-Nicolle, CHU de Rouen, 1, rue de Germont, 76031 Rouen, France. didier.pinquier@chu-rouen.fr
Insights
Whooping cough (pertussis) remains common in teens and adults due to waning immunity. Reinforcing vaccination schedules for all age groups is crucial to protect infants from this dangerous disease.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Infectious Diseases
- Vaccinology
Context:
- Pertussis (whooping cough) persists despite widespread infant vaccination.
- Partial immunization leads to frequent infections in adolescents and adults.
- Undiagnosed cases facilitate Bordetella pertussis circulation, endangering unvaccinated infants.
Purpose:
- To highlight the ongoing pertussis challenge in partially immunized populations.
- To advocate for enhanced vaccination strategies to control Bordetella pertussis spread.
- To emphasize the need for updated vaccination schedules across all age groups.
Summary:
- Whooping cough remains prevalent in adolescents and adults due to waning immunity.
- Reinforcing booster vaccinations in preadolescents, teenagers, and adults is essential.
- Protecting infants requires vaccinating their families and healthcare providers.
Impact:
- Increased vaccine uptake in adolescents and adults can reduce pertussis transmission.
- Strengthening herd immunity will better protect vulnerable infants.
- Revised vaccination protocols aim to decrease infant mortality associated with pertussis.
Abstract:
Whooping-cough is one of the rare diseases for which vaccine prevention has been available for many years. However, in spite of good vaccine coverage in the infant, the pertussis infection remains a frequent disease in the teenagers and adults partially immunized. The missing diagnosis of the infection, added to its often clinical banal expression, contributes to support the circulation of Bordetella pertussis and explains the contamination of the young infants in whom the disease remains a true danger as the few declared deaths show it every year. Control of the disease must go through reinforcement of vaccination as a practitioner of booster vaccine in preadolescents, teenagers and adults. Instituted since 1998 in the French vaccine calendar, the 2nd booster in preadolescence between 11-13 years olds or 5th dose of vaccine is not enough carried out and must be encouraged like the installation of another additional vaccine dose for adults and certain professional categories. The protection of infants too young to have received the 3 doses goes through the vaccination of their entourage, family and socio-professional alike. The new recommendations thus preach to begin vaccination in children from the age of 2 months, a reinforcement of the vaccine boosters in preadolescents, in adults likely to become parents and in the medical and paramedical personnel in contact with very young infants.
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