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Subscribe to RSSFor the first time in two decades, no one in California died from whooping cough last year, a public health victory that followed the deaths of 10 babies in 2010.
The state also cut the total number of whooping cough cases by two-thirds, from a high of nearly 9,000 in 2010 to less than 3,000 in 2011, officials announced Tuesday.
Dr. Gil Chavez, the California Department of Public Health epidemiologist and deputy director for infectious diseases, credited wider availability of vaccines, faster diagnosis, greater awareness and a new law that required pertussis booster shots for middle- and high-school kids.
“Looking at our data, we really identified that there were some gaps in the rates of vaccination of critical populations,” Chavez said.
The push depended on the cooperation of local health departments and health care providers working together to emphasize the need for vaccination against the infection.
Pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial illness spread by coughs and sneezes.
Efforts were targeted particularly toward families, caregivers and health care providers of babies younger than 6 months. Because they can’t be fully immunized until after that age, it’s important that everyone around the infants be protected against the disease, a process known as “cocooning," health experts say.
The number of whooping cough cases remained high in California, however, at nearly 3,000. The last time there were that many cases was in 2005. The last year in which no one died was 1991, when the state recorded just 249 cases of pertussis.
State officials are awaiting final figures that show how vaccination rates increased because of the efforts, Chavez said. The law requiring immunization of 7th through 12-th graders will apply going forward to all students entering 7th grade this year and in the future.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention applauded California's rapid response and vaccination efforts, said Alison Patti, a program manager. Pertussis is cyclical, so a drop in infections was expected as the disease made its way through the population. But efforts to accelerate and expand vaccination certainly helped.
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Meanwhile, deaths from methamphetamine are at an all-time high...
But good for the Cal Dept of Public Health for requiring vaccinations for 7th graders. All it takes is for the anti-vaccine nutcases to get more traction, and disease rates will start heading up again.
Well we have not been vaccinated, are in California, and none of us have ever had whooping cough. Nursing children and eating healthfully often keeps diseases away and if you do become ill it helps to keep the disease at bay. It still amazes me that folks will give their kids a vaccine full of carcinogens and assume they are protected when most whooping cough outbreaks are in heavily vaccinated areas.
It's called "herd immunity". If enough people are vaccinated, the epidemy won't develop. But if you have bad luck, you can still catch it. Count yourself lucky. Yet.
Ignorance is bliss. Remember to thank all your neighbors for keeping your children safe.
mel-
I hope you don't have cause to regret your ignorance and superstition some day.
I guess you fell asleep during the middle school science class on the germ theory of disease. All the good parenting practices in the world do not confer the immunity to disease a vaccine does. I only hope your innocent children do not have to suffer or die needlessly because of your incredible ignorance!
Mel,
If by "carcinogen" you mean thimerosal, it has been illegal for vaccines in California to contain thimerosal since July of 2006.
What carcinogens are you speaking of, or are you just a chemophobe? Remember, that which is not chemical, is spiritual.
Shot, good post.
Everything on earth is a chemical. And life is a carcinogen...
Shot:
Mel may have been referring to the formaldehyde that is in virtually all of the pertussis vaccines. Formaldehyde has long been a known carcinogen.
As for the thimerosal ban, if you do a little homework, you'll find that no one is actually enforcing this. And then there's the relatively new CDC recommendation that everyone aged 6 months and older receive the annual flu vaccine. Unless you are one of the lucky few who receives a vaccine from one of those rare single-dose, preservative-free vials, chances are you and your kids are being pumped up with the full 25mcg dose of thimerosal.
I know a few people in california (i live here) that got whooping cough. surprisingly they were all vaccinated and in school with all vaccinated kids. go figure.
Immunizations do not guarantee immunity... It is possible for children to get there scheduled immunizations but their bodies may not develop the desired antibodies.
NOT getting them immunized DEFINITELY does not guarantee immunity!
Congratulations to the healthcare team in California - 3,000 reported cases and no reported deaths due to pertussis. Considering the large influx of immigrants to the state, that is a good record of treatment and care.
It is probably impossible to eradicate this disease (like smallpox), because of the 6-month minimum vaccination age and the fact that many people do not develop immunity.
I had it as an infant in the 50's - there was no vaccine and not much treatment. My parents had to hold me by my feet so I could breathe. I think my lungs were affected for years. Anyone who may be around infants needs to be vaccinated and boosted. Make sure your baby sitters and daycare workers are vaccinated.