[Present and future of oral pertussis vaccination]

Parenteral immunization against whooping cough shows some disadvantages which led to proposals to curtail pertussis vaccination in some countries. As a result a striking rise in pertussis morbidity in these regions was noted, so vaccination against whooping cough is still indicated. We developed an oral vaccine for the neonate to achieve a protective immunity at a time when it is especially needed and to avoid side-reactions. Oral vaccine was given to more than 15,000 newborns, vaccination results of the last 3 years are reported.