Hey Mom, Bad Cough? It Could be More Than You Think and Harm Your New Baby

New Study Confirms Parents are Most Common Source of a Vaccine-Preventable Disease

(ARA) - When you bring a new baby home from the hospital, it seems everyone wants to stop by for a visit. While you may be concerned about your friends exposing the baby to germs, a new study confirms the infant's biggest threat of infection may be his or her closest family members.

As part of the new baby drill, parents and other family members are careful to wash their hands before getting near a baby, but a potentially fatal infection called pertussis -- commonly known as whooping cough -- is still infecting infants worldwide.

According to a study conducted over a 20-month period, infants with pertussis -- for whom the source could be identified -- were found to have been infected by family members about 75 percent of the time; parents were responsible more than half of the time. The study was led by researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) and was supported by sanofi pasteur, the vaccines business of the sanofi-aventis Group and manufacturer of Adacel vaccine (Tetanus Toxoid, Reduced Diphtheria Toxoid and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Adsorbed), the only pertussis booster licensed for both adolescents and adults in the United States.

Pertussis is a highly contagious infection that causes severe coughing. It can occur at any age; however, at particular risk are newborns who have not been vaccinated or fully vaccinated against the disease. They are more vulnerable to severe pertussis and face the possibility of serious complications and even death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2000 and 2004 more than 6,000 infants aged 12 months or less were hospitalized with pertussis. During this same time period, infants accounted for more than 90 percent of the pertussis deaths in the United States.

"While pertussis cases in all age groups have been rising, it is important to know how the disease is spread -- particularly to infants who are too young to be vaccinated themselves -- so that steps can be taken to prevent infections in these vulnerable infants," said Annelies Van Rie, M.D., assistant professor of epidemiology in the UNC School of Public Health. "It is troubling to learn that infants are often infected with pertussis by their own family members, who are often unaware of having pertussis themselves."

The number of reported cases of pertussis has been rising across the United States, worrying the medical community. This is partly because pertussis immunity from early childhood vaccinations eventually wears off, leaving adults and adolescents at risk. The most current data from the CDC indicate that the number of pertussis cases increased between the 1980s and 2005. While the number of cases increased in all age groups, reports of pertussis have increased most dramatically among adolescents and adults. Most adolescents and adults are not diagnosed with pertussis because they frequently have milder disease.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the CDC now recommends that adults and adolescents be given a tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis booster (Tdap) in place of the tetanus-diphtheria (Td) booster to reduce the burden of pertussis in this country. Since 2005, Adacel vaccine has offered pertussis protection for the widest range of ages -- 11 through 64 years.

"Ongoing research, such as this study, shows that adolescents and adults can spread pertussis to infants. Additionally, pertussis immunization of adolescents and adults would not only have an effect on their own health, but would also protect young infants from the disease," said Dr. Van Rie. "Those who have an infant at home or who come into contact with infants at work should be immunized against pertussis."

For full prescribing information, see the Adacel vaccine package insert at www.adacelvaccine.com. For information on where to get Adacel vaccine, visit www.adacel-locator.com.

Courtesy of ARA content