"What is pertussis?" - this question is being asked with increasing frequency as news of pertussis outbreaks (also known as whooping cough) makes nationwide news. As an office promoting natural health and chiropractic care, many of our patients are growing concerned over the pertussis virus and what it means concerning their choice to not vaccinate or delay vaccination. While vaccine choice is completely up to our individual patients and their families, the choice is entirely dependent on becoming informed. We here at Rubin Family Chiropractic would like to provide you with some of the latest information concerning this potentially daunting disease.
What is pertussis?
- Pertussis is more commonly known as Whooping Cough, a virus characterized by a loud inhalation called a 'whoop'. It can cause inflammation in the respiratory tract, which can at times become fatal. The virus is caused by strains of the Bordetella virus, most commonly Bordetella Pertussis.
- The most at risk populations are children under one year of age. They are most likely to be severely affected by the disease, given their still-developing immune systems. The fact of the matter is, however, that even those who have been vaccinated against the disease are still at risk.
- Pertussis is cyclic in nature, meaning that every few years there are more cases, followed by a decline in the number of cases. In the last decade or so the upswings have been increasingly severe, prompting more coverage by the media.
- There are several issues to blame for why we are seeing an increasing number of pertussis cases as of late - none of which seems to be the choice of some parents not to vaccinate (and that's straight from the CDC!) One reason is due to a change in the type of vaccine used. During the 1990's scientists made a switch from a whole-cell version of the vaccine to an acellular version. This acellular version does not appear to be as effective in the long term.
- Another issue: Although many cases of Pertussis are the result of Bordetella Pertussis, which the vaccine is specifically made for, an increasing number of cases are due to other organisms such as Bordetella Parapertussis. The vaccines are not made for the Parapertussis virus strains, so they offer little, if any, protection. It has been suggested that while there is an 8-fold decrease in risk for vaccinated patients when it comes to the B. Pertussis virus, the risk in vaccinated patients for contracting B. Parapertussis or some other strand of the disease may actually increase.
- To repeat, the latest media slams of non-vaccinated children as being the cause of the latest outbreak are completely wrong, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The more likely reasons are the change in the actual vaccine and the lack of the Parapertussis toxin to be in the vaccine.
Sources:
de Melker HE et al. Reemergence of Pertussis in the highly vaccinated population of the Netherlands: Observations on surveillance data. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2000,6(4):348-57.[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2640897/pdf/10905967.pdf]
Long GH et al. Acellular pertussis vaccination facilitates Bordetella parapertussis infection in a rodent model of bordetellosis. Proc R Soc B. Mar 2010.[http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/02/26/rspb.2010.0010.full.pdf+html]
Sheridan SL et al. Number and order of whole cell Pertussis vaccines in infancy and disease protection. JAMA. 2012;308(5):454-456. [http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1273011]
http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/about/faqs.html
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