Bordetella Pertussis Research Paper

All too often we hear on the news of the devastating effects of a disease that could have been prevented by vaccines, but because of parents refusal to vaccinate their infants and children, public health professionals are now confronted with a health crisis. The importance of vaccinations is to provide children with added protection because of a young, developing immune system. Consequently, vaccines will help in boosting the immune system in recognizing and protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, mumps, and pertussis, also known as whooping cough.1 For example, pertussis, a bacterial infection that is preventable by vaccines, has infected 16 million persons worldwide, and causes about 195,000 deaths

A few years earlier in Britain, pediatric neurologist John Wilson, claimed that the pertussis vaccine caused brain damage in children. Further medical studies reported that 1 in 100,000 children suffered brain damage because of DPT. The media exploded with the results of these studies, an enormous amount of lawsuits were filed, and the vaccine stopped being given. After years of replicating the initial study that found a correlation between the pertussis vaccine and brain damage, none of the studies were able to prove an association (Offit, 2010). Further research found that children with defects to a

Mandatory vaccination continues to be a contentious subject in the United States, even though extensive evidence proves inoculation prevents certain diseases. According to A. Plotkin & L. Plotkin (2011), the evolution of the first vaccine commenced in the 1700’s when a physician named Edwards Jenner discovered that cowpox protected individuals from one of the deadliest diseases termed smallpox. The precise virus Jenner used is unclear; however, it was espoused in the extermination of smallpox worldwide. The researchers further explained, the unearthing of the subsequent vaccine known as chicken cholera occurred approximately 80 years later by Louise Pasteur. Ever since, copious vaccines such as rabies, yellow fever, varicella, pneumococcal, mumps and recently HPV have been introduced.

Also, the analysis depicts the geographic distributions of pertussis mortality across the United States. During 2000-2010, 184 deaths were directly attributed to pertussis, which occurred only in California, Pennsylvania and Texas.2 California had the highest morality rate, at 35 deaths in the ten-year period.2 Notably, the White population of reported pertussis morality was at the highest at 160 of 184 deaths.2 Also, there has been an increase in reported cases in the United Sates, in 2000 there were 12 reported deaths and in 2010 there were 26 deaths.2 94 percent of the pertussis related mortality occurred in infants (less than 1 years old) who are not fully immunized.

I think that perhaps in third world countries it may be a ramped problem do to the fact that most people are not vaccinated against it. Even then, the only people who are usually affected by the disease are children under 2 years old. They are the main targets of this disease because they do not have adequate immune systems to fight of the bacteria. Now maybe back in the 1900's Whooping cough would have been an epidemic because of their very limited amount of technology and they would not have known how to treat the disease or how to contain it. Despite out new technology, get a grasp on Pertussis, it seems to spread even if a person has been vaccinated. Curious enough that the schools have started vaccinating for Pertussis and started giving out the shot like it was candy, not even worried about the effect that it would have on the population of school kids that have had the shot. Some case kids that have had “Whooping Cough” are being re-vaccinated and

According to SC DHEC, Division of Acute Disease Epidemiology, 2011 shows in this chart the confirmed and probable Pertussis cases in SC, between 2004 and 2010. “Pertussis tends to become epidemic every 2-5 years; a trend unchanged from the years before vaccine introduction. Outbreaks occur throughout the year in the US (Cherry, 2010; CDC, 2010b). Pertussis vaccination has reduced the case incidence in peak years by more than 95%.”

Common side effects from vaccines can range from redness or swelling of the skin where the shot was administered, to severe allergic reactions. For most patients, these side effects are very minor, and go away within a couple of days (“Possible Side-effects”, 2015). All of these common side effects seem to fail in comparison to what symptoms a person may experience if they were infected with the disease these vaccines are protecting them against. For example, in the state of California during 2010, there were 9,120 cases of the whooping cough recorded. That year had the most recorded cases since 1940, when the vaccine against the whooping cough was introduced. In connection to this outbreak, ten infants, who were too young to be vaccinated against the whooping cough, died. It is disheartening to hear more and more of these types of stories when we already have a solution to the problem (“Vaccine Myths Debunked”, n.d.). We are likely to see more of these tragedies as the rates for vaccinations decrease. And we are likely to see many diseases that were once a rarity, make a comeback in our communities.

The Pertussis is something that maybe parents don’t take seriously because it’s a possibility they believe it will never happen to their child. A strong recommendation to help decreases the cases of pertussis is to be stricter with shot requirements such as children can’t enter school or daycare without it and if they aren’t able to afford it because of issues with insurance, they should be offered the shot at a discount rate so that low-income families would qualify for it.

Every year or season a slightly different flu strain awakens, infecting our human population. This fall it’s the whooping cough, also called pertussis. It is causing many deaths, especially in infants. Many health officials have grown concerned with this unexpected new threat, mainly because the babies are too young to be fully immunized by the illness. It’s essential to understand how this virus is effecting our population and what procedures must be taken in order to prevent it from continuing to spread.

ones to not only vaccinate their children, but themselves as well. Pertussis was once believed to

The most effective way to protect a person against many diseases, such as measles, pertussis, polio, and chickenpox, is to get vaccinated. Doctors and scientists all over the world highly recommend vaccines and, being that they have spent years studying health, their recommendations stand reliable. Omer Saad, a professor and researcher who has been involved in many projects on vaccinations in foreign countries, believes that “vaccines are among the most effective tools available for preventing infectious diseases” (1). The implementation of this technology has brought huge decreases in disease rates. Correspondingly, The University of Pittsburgh has conducted research on infectious disease statistics since 1888 and found that over 103 million cases of life threatening diseases have been prevented since 1924 (Welch 2). The Journal of the American Medical Association also found dramatic drops in infections and deaths associated with chickenpox, polio, and diphtheria and attributes these decreases to vaccine technology (Welch 2).

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is an acute and highly contagious disease caused by Bordetella pertussis, a gram-negative

Pertussis epidemics occur every three to four years (Australian Government 2017). In 2011, 38,732 notified cases were reported nationally with the highest rates of disease being in infants under 6 months of age and children 5–9 years of age (Pillsbury, Quinn & McIntyre 2014). Children aged under six months

The population is ‘infants’ and babies from one month old to 23 months old or around the immunising age. The population can be narrowed down by researching the age that infants are given the pertussis immunization in order to get a more focused

The signs and symptoms are usually mild at first and resemble a common cold; runny nose, nasal congestion, red and watery eyes, fever, and a cough (Mayo, 2016). After a few weeks, signs and symptoms will worsen and thick mucus will collect inside the airways causing the unmanageable coughing. They are horrific coughing attacks that can lead to vomiting, result in a red or blue face, extreme fatigue, and ends with a high pitched “whoop” sound during the next patient’s breath (Mayo, 2016). The diagnosis of pertussis includes an assessment of the patient’s history of typical signs and symptoms and an actual physical examination (Diagnosis, 2016). The doctor will obtain a nose or throat mucus culture by swabbing or suctioning from the area where the nose and throat meet, and then the sample of checked for evidence of bordatella pertussis bacterium. A blood test may be acquired to check the white blood cell count as white blood cells fight infections, such as whooping cough. A high count of white blood cells indicates the presence of infection or inflammation but does not pertain only to whooping cough. A chest x-ray may also be ordered to check for inflammation or fluid in the lungs which can occur in pneumonia, a complication of