Essay On Pertussis

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

Despite significant progress in the fight against preventable disease, millions still die needlessly each year. According to UNICEF, originally known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, a vaccine preventable disease is responsible for 2 million fatal infections worldwide each year. About 75% of these deaths occur in children under five years of age. (N) In more vivid terms, UNICEF notes that vaccine-preventable diseases kill a child every 20 seconds. (D) Due to high rates of childhood vaccination, the United States has experienced a dramatic reduction in such deaths. A comparison of the years 1950 and 2010 clearly illustrates the benefits of vaccinations. During this 60-year period, deaths from diphtheria reduced from 410 to 0, tetanus from 336 to 3, pertussis from 1,118 to 26, and polio from 1,904 to 0. Measles deaths dropped from 468 in 1950 to 0 in 2008, the last year a United States death rate was recorded. It’s not surprising that vaccinations have been touted as one of the top ten health achievements of the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There are several diseases around the world that have not gone away in the last few decades. For instance, HIV, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and more commonly, the Flu, and Measles are deadly diseases that still exist today. However, getting vaccinated will help fight off the disease as the vaccine releases antibodies into your bloodstream. Experts from MedlinePlus say that Pertussis, Diphtheria, and Tetanus are caused by bacteria. Diphtheria and pertussis can be spread to people from coughing and sneezing. Tetanus enters through cut and wounds. Also according to MedlinePlus, “Before vaccines, as many as 200,000 cases a year of diphtheria, 200,000 cases of pertussis, and hundreds of cases of tetanus, were reported in the United States each

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.

That being said, serious damage from vaccination is a rare occurrence (Malone and Hinaman). A Glanz study (2013) from the Vaccine Safety data link demonstrated a direct magnitude that as communities were under vaccinated for Pertussis, the risk of Pertusis increased. The study also showed a 28 times higher rate of Pertussis in children that had no Pertussis vaccination documentation (Glanz et al. 2913). This study as well as an intense list of data by the CDC emulates supportive data for the effectiveness of vaccinations.

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.

The routine U.S. childhood immunization schedule (from birth through age six) consists of vaccines for hepatitis B, diphtheria/ tetanus/pertussis (DTap), rotavirus (RV), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pneumococcus (PCV), polio virus (IPV), measles/ mumps/rubella (MMR), varicella (also known as chickenpox), and hepatitis A. Since the introduction of these vaccines, mortality rates caused from these diseases have drastically decreased and what

In the past 20 years, vaccines that are distributed to infants and young children will prevent 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and 732,000 deaths throughout their lifetime (Olson, Samantha). However, even with all of these amazing statistics, people still are not convinced that vaccinating their child is the right decision. The CDC recommends fourteen vaccines to infants, some of which are to prevent diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, rotavirus, the chicken pox, and whooping cough (Child VaxView). Diphtheria and tetanus are very uncommon, but pertussis is still a threat and has a 1% mortality rate in early infancy (Summary). Even though a 1% chance of a child catching a disease and dying from it sounds like a very slim chance and pretty good odds, there is always going to be that question of what if this child is going to be that one percent? This people would assume would lead the parents of a newborn to vaccinate their child, however, with all of the false information floating around, it can be difficult to determine what is best for the new child. Another vaccination recommended by the CDC was the rotavirus vaccine. Four out of five children in the United States will acquire the rotavirus by the age of five. Among these

Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory disease and is also known as whooping cough. This disease is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) mostly (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). However the bacterium Bordetella parapertussis (B. parapertussis) is also known to cause

Pertussis is of concern to the public health nurse as this disease can be deadly to those not vaccinated against it, such as infants not old enough to receive the vaccine, those allergic to the vaccine, or those that are immunocompromised or have other comorbidities. It is also concerning as the disease is highly contagious, can cause significant illness and death in certain populations, and there has been an increase in the number of cases in recent years, even though vaccination has reduced the overall cases of pertussis. Pertussis still continues to be an important public health problem in developing countries to this day (Sedighi et al., 2016). Surveillance of this disease is important as it continues to cause a substantial number of cases annually across the globe. Public health nurses can play a role in monitoring the disease, reporting cases, and doing their part to educate, vaccinate, and treat individuals to prevent the further spread of

DPT stands for Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus (Tdap). All three of these diseases are caused by bacteria (Tdap). Diphtheria isn’t as common as tetanus but can be extremely dangerous to your health (Tdap). It spreads by coughing and sneezing (Tdap). It is very harmful because it becomes a “thick coating on the back of the nose and can cause difficulty breathing and swallowing” (Tdap). It can potentially cause heart failure and paralysis. Approximately 1 out of 10 people who get it will die from it (Tdap). Pertussis is the second part of the vaccine. Pertussis is more commonly known as the whooping cough (Tdap). It causes a bad cough that can cause people to gasp for air and have coughing fits (Tdap). It spreads very easily and can last for several weeks (Tdap). “Whooping cough can be deadly for infants who are too young to have protection from the vaccines” states the CDC. (Tdap). “Tetanus is caused by bacteria found in the soil” (Tdap). It can cause spasms, which can lead to breathing problems and paralysis. “A preteen or teen could spend weeks in the hospital in intensive care if they come down with the disease” (Tdap). About 1 out of 5 people who get tetanus will die (Tdap). “Before vaccines, each year the United States averaged about 500-600 cases of tetanus, 100,000-200,000 cases of diphtheria, and 175,000 cases of pertussis (whooping cough) (Tdap). Since then, the numbers have decreased because there

The question left to understand is how to prevent the spread of pertussis to those under one year of age and to those unable to receive the vaccine. Prevention would require different methods to stop the spread of pertussis. Wagner and Clodfelter (2014) explained using simple techniques such as hand

On April 19, 1982, a televised documentary titled Vaccine Roulette aired showing the world the severe side effects DTP was causing on children and scientists opinions against the vaccine. What Vaccine Roulette purposely forgot to mention to nations of concerned, watchful parents was that the DTP vaccine nearly extinct the pertussis virus and that they had taken the answers of scientists and cropped their answers to best fit their case. As a British epidemiologist previously stated, “Once again the media have succeeded in denting parents confidence in childhood immunization” (Conis 209). Shortly after this documentary aired, vaccine compensation programs were established to protect those who unfortunately had a severe reaction to a vaccine and new and improved vaccines were formulated, tested, and released for administration to the

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

People of any age can compact the disease, children under the age of two are at the highest risk for both the disease and for serious difficulty and death. Evidently, exposure to B. pertussis bacteria earlier in life gives people immunity against infection with it later on. .Whooping cough may begin like a common cold; runny nose, low-grade fever, and coughing. It spreads when an infected person sneezes or coughs while in close contact with others. Unlike the common cold, the pertussis cough continues and may get worse. Coughing can come in violent fits. The name “whooping cough” comes from the high-pitched noise a “whoop” that infants and children make when they gasp for air after a fit of