Study: Vaccine for Common Illness in Children Could Be Losing Effectiveness - East Idaho News
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Study: Vaccine for Common Illness in Children Could Be Losing Effectiveness

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GETTY H 010912 Syringe?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1363227405356Siri Stafford/Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A vaccine against a common childhood ailment may be losing its effectiveness. A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics points out that children given a newer version of the whooping cough vaccine show a rise in the illness.
 
Pertussis — better known as whooping cough — is a highly-contagious disease marked by violent coughing that makes it difficult to breathe. It most commonly affects infants and young children, and can be fatal, especially in babies under the age of one.
 
After looking at pertussis incidence among more than 22,000 children in Minnesota and more than 170,000 in Oregon, CDC researchers found the proportion of reported pertussis cases among 7- to 10-year-olds nearly doubled from 2007 to 2009. Experts think part of the reason is that immunity from the newer vaccine wanes in the years following the fifth and final dose.

That means 7- to 10-year-olds are at increasing risk of whooping cough over time.

While these findings do not indicate you should stop vaccinating you child for pertussis, experts advise you to check with your pediatrician about what to do in the case of your child.
 
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