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Every two months, we give the alert to a person with whooping cough, or whooping cough.
Last month, Texas Capitol people received a letter stating that employees could have been exposed to whooping cough and that the Texas State Department's health departments were investigating.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in March a study of their own research on why we see more of this disease, which can look like an allergy or a cold until it is clear. it turns into a characteristic cough that looks like a "whoop" between coughs. People can cough so much that they break a rib or have trouble catching their breath.
He cited more than 48,000 cases reported in 2012. Why so much? For many good reasons: People are more aware that this is not just a cold and seek medical treatment, laboratory tests have improved and the current vaccine formula may have diminishing protection.
In fact, the CDC has tested the historical version of whooping cough that it retains and on which the vaccine was constructed, as well as the version of whooping cough in people recently with the disease.
The researchers found that pertussis had evolved genetically.
Think of it as flu vaccine, said Dr. Mai Duong, chief of pediatrics at the Austin Regional Clinic in Austin, Texas. Every year, the flu is changing rapidly compared to the previous year, which is why the vaccine is different every year.
Although whooping cough and other diseases for which we vaccinate do not evolve as quickly as the flu, they can evolve and we can begin to see a different version emerge.
The results of the study and the increase in the number of cases mean that the CDC will consider the pertussis vaccine as possibly requiring a new formula.
This research and the potential need for a new vaccine does not mean you have to ignore the current version, says Duong.
"It will protect you anyway, even if you catch whooping cough," she says. "The symptoms are not as long and less severe."
The vaccine is administered at the age of 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, between 15 and 18 months, between 4 and 6 years and between 11 and 12 years. Adults must receive it every 10 years. It is administered as a combination vaccine against tetanus and diphtheria.
And most importantly, to protect babies under 2 months, pregnant women get it in the third trimester at least two weeks before delivery and anyone who will be in contact with a newborn must get at least two weeks before. this contact.
"You want a cocoon around the baby," says Duong.
For infants, the risk is that they stop breathing. They could also cough so much that they can not get any food. Duong helped take care of an infant with whooping cough and this infant needed feeding tubes and was on a ventilator.
The other vulnerable population is made up of people whose immune system is compromised, such as people on chemotherapy.
Everyone should be vaccinated, says Duong. "The proof is there that it's good for the community," she says. "It's protective."
It is the immunity of the herd: the higher the number of vaccinated people, the less likely it is that the disease will occur. It is transmitted by respiratory droplets from a cough.
"The risk of contracting the disease is much higher than the risk badociated with the vaccine," she says. The risk badociated with the vaccine is a fever of less than 102 degrees, muscle pain, a small reaction during which you get vaccinated, such as a burning sensation or swelling of the skin.
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