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The pertussis vaccine becomes ineffective
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
American scientists have found that the cell-free DTaP vaccine, which is carried out in five stages and protects immediately from three diseases (pertussis, tetanus and diphtheria) works ineffectively.
DTaP is vaccinated at the age of 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months and 4-6 years.
" Pertussis remains a poorly controlled disease. The increase in the number of sick children, not newborns, namely, older age, suggests that post-immunity immunity weakens, - scientists say. - This is evidenced by an increase in reported cases of whooping cough cases among children between the ages of seven and ten. "
Recent studies suggest that the weakening of protection occurs after the fifth stage of DTaP vaccination, odually for a full evaluation of the effectiveness of the vaccine, it is necessary to compare the health status of those children who were not vaccinated and who had been vaccinated.
Lara Meejgades, MD, of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and her colleagues conducted a study to assess the relationship between pertussis and the five stages of DTaP vaccination.
The study involved 682 children aged four to ten years with a presumed or confirmed diagnosis of whooping cough. The control group included 2016 healthy children.
As it turned out, vaccination was less frequent in the first group of children. A full course of vaccination, consisting of five stages, was conducted 89% less frequently. But, nevertheless, the risk of developing the disease increased after the last stage of the triple vaccination.
For about one year, the effectiveness of a full, five-step vaccination course reached 98.1%. In five years, it declined to 71.2%.
"The increase in pertussis incidence, the change in epidemiology, and the demonstration of a decrease in DTaP vaccine efficacy over time, raise concerns about the current vaccination program for children with whooping cough. All this can lead to the search for new, alternative methods of protection that can provide a longer lasting effect and will have a stable and long-lasting immunity, "says Dr. Majsgeides.
"The strategy for finding and using more effective remedies should be implemented as soon as possible," commented Yevgeny Shapiro, a doctor of medical science at Yale University. - It is very important to protect children and reduce the incidence rate. The highest mortality rates are observed among children less than two months old. Immunization of all pregnant women and children under the age of one year is one of the main methods that will help to solve this problem. "
Health authorities will need to assess the feasibility and safety of various vaccination schemes. In the opinion of specialists, it is necessary to change the adopted vaccination schedule and make vaccinations more frequent.