Pertussis – The Virus and It’s Effect

“Pertussis is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe. After fits of many coughs, someone with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths which result in a “whooping” sound.” – CDC, 2014

“Pertussis most commonly affects infants and young children and can be fatal, especially in babies less than 1 year of age.” – CDC, 2014

Annual U.S. Mortality Rate for Whooping Cough

Between 10-20 deaths per year

“Now we see about 10,000–40,000 cases reported each year and unfortunately about 10–20 deaths.” – CDC, 2014

 Above is the trend line of Whooping Cough cases and deaths for over the last decade in the U.S. – USA Today, 2014

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Two Types of Vaccine: Whole-cell (DTP) and Acellualar (DTaP)

According to the FDA, 2013, “there are two types of pertussis vaccines, whole-cell and acellular. Whole-cell pertussis vaccines contain a whole-cell preparation, which means they contain killed, but complete, B. pertussis bacteria. The acellular pertussis vaccine is more purified and uses only selected portions of the pertussis bacteria to stimulate an immune response in an individual.” The whole-cell whooping cough vaccine, DTP, is no longer in production in the U.S. because children were always getting sick from the vaccine within 3 days of it’s injection. In fact, doctors had to give an antipyretic, an agent that reduces fever, because it was so bad. So, today the DTaP is the vaccine that is being administered, but it is definitely full of short-comings as well. In recent scientific studies, DTaP is not providing protection from acquiring the disease nor lowering the spread of the disease to others.

Acellular pertussis vaccines licensed by FDA “may not prevent the bacteria that causes whooping cough in those vaccinated or its spread to other people.” – FDA.gov, 2013

“The observation that aP, which induces an immune response mismatched to that induced by natural infection, fails to prevent colonization or transmission provides a plausible explanation for the resurgence of pertussis.” – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014

“Whole-cell vaccination was able to prevent transmission, but an acellular vaccine that effectively controls disease failed to control shedding and transmission. Our results highlight discrepancies between whole-cell and acellular vaccination that could contribute to the increased incidence of B. pertussis infection since the transition to the use of acellular vaccination.” – The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2014

People Vaccinated Can Be Carriers of Pertussis

“We tested 46 fully vaccinated children in two day-care centers in Israel who were exposed to a fatal case of pertussis infection. Only two of five children who tested positive for Bordetella pertussis met the World Health Organization’s case definition for pertussis. Vaccinated children may be asymptomatic reservoirs for infection.” – CDC, 2000

“The research suggests that while the vaccine may keep people from getting sick, it doesn’t prevent them from spreading whooping cough — also known as pertussis — to others.” – NBC News, 2013

“But that might not be the whole story, suggests a new study published in BMC Medicine by Santa Fe Institute Omidyar Fellows Ben Althouse and Sam Scarpino. Their research points to a different, but related, source of the outbreak — vaccinated people who are infectious but who do not display the symptoms of whooping cough, suggesting that the number of people transmitting without symptoms may be many times greater than those transmitting with symptoms.” – Science Daily, 2015

Vaccine “Wears off”

 According to the CDC’s recommended pediatric vaccine schedule, children under 6 need to receive 5 doses of DTaP. So, how effective is the vaccine? Fully vaccinated children having had 5 doses of the vaccine by age 6 “could still be vulnerable by age 10” according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2012 – USA Today, 2013

Dr. Marc Siegel Associate Professor of Medicine at NYU admits on Fox News the vaccine wears off. And he encourages that people get the vaccine even though the mother in the video tells a very compelling story of how the DTaP vaccine caused hospitalization and autism in her son.

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Vaccinated People Get Whooping Cough

In each of the below cases spread throughout the country, the majority of those who came down with whooping cough had been up to date on their vaccinations according to the mainstream reports and scientific studies. So, does the vaccine work? Is it worth taking to begin with?

The Whooping Cough Cases

• In San Diego, California “so far this year, 1,855 positive cases have been recorded, with more than 80 percent of the people up to date on their whooping cough shots.” – KPBS News, local San Diego news, 2014
• 522 cases in Vermont, “a majority were vaccinated children,” 90% were vaccinated. – USAToday, 2012
• In California 2010, of the 132 patients with whooping cough under 18, 81% were fully up to date on their recommended vaccinations. – Reuters, 2012
  • “…Records for 132 Kaiser Permanente patients… the bulk of the cases were in fully vaccinated children between eight and 12 years old.” – Scientific American, 2013
• 15 High Schoolers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts have come down with whooping cough and “in this case, a school official tells WBZ that all the students had been immunized.” – CBS News, Boston, 2014
• “This report describes a statewide outbreak of pertussis in Vermont (1995 population: 584,771) in 1996 in a highly vaccinated population, affecting primarily school-aged children and adults, and underscores the need to include pertussis in the differential diagnosis of cough illness in persons of all ages.” – CDC, 1997
• “PARK CITY, Utah — A whooping cough outbreak is causing concern in Summit County as 19 children have been diagnosed, and it’s the first time in years Park City schools have seen a case of pertussis. Officials said all of the children who have been diagnosed were vaccinated against the illness.”  – Fox 13 News, Salt Lake City, 2015
• “The Washington State Secretary of Health declared a pertussis epidemic on April 3, 2012…Valid vaccination history was available for 1,829 of 2,006 (91.2%) patients aged 3 months–19 years. Overall, 758 of 1,000 (75.8%) patients aged 3 months–10 years were up-to-date with the childhood diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTaP) doses.” – CDC, 2012
• In 2004, Wisconsin had “261 pertussis cases among county residents…Among 156 case patients with reported vaccination histories, 84% had received 5 or more doses of pertussis-containing vaccine.” – Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2008
• “SALINAS, Calif. — In less than one month, four students at Monterey Park School have been diagnosed with pertussis, or whooping cough…School officials said of the 524 students at Monterey Park, 99.5 percent are vaccinated, including the four students who have been diagnosed.” – NBC News 8 KSBW, 2015
• In North Carolina, “A blood test confirmed that it was whooping cough, so it was reported to the health department which investigated and said that’s what Dean likely had, and Lisa then got it from him. But, the news came as a shock since they’d both been vaccinated.” – ABC News, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham, 2015
• In Massachusetts, “Landers said that since March 4 the Marion County Health Department has investigated 11 cases of whooping cough – six at the unidentified school, four at Sprague and a single case at a third school. All students except one were up to date on their vaccines.” – Statesman Journal, 2015

Health Officials Admissions

These individual outbreaks cases happened despite high levels of vaccination. Perhaps, the vaccinations themselves help facilitate whooping cough. Health officials try shrug off this glaring correlation (possible causation), but they have to make some admissions.

“While some parents around the country have taken a stand against childhood vaccines, the outbreak is not being driven by unvaccinated children, according to the CDC. Most of the illnesses are in vaccinated youngsters, officials said.” – CBS News, 2012

“Vaccination helped clear Bordetella pertussis but resulted in an approximately 40x fold increase in B. para-pertussis… Further, we show that aP vaccination impedes host immunity against B. para-pertussis” – The Royal Society, 2010

“There were 48,000 cases reported last year despite high rates of vaccinations…this resurgence suggests a need for research into the causes” says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. – FDA, 2013

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Infant Deaths

Infanrix Hexa – DTP vaccine by GlaxoSmithKline
36 infants died between 2009 – 2011; 72 total since 2000 – Biological Clinical Safety and Pharmacovigilance, page 603

Tripedia – DTP vaccine by Sanofi Pasteur Inc
Reported rate of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) in US between 1.5/1,000 between 1985 – 1991 – FDA.gov, 2005

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Other DTP/DTaP Dangers

Many of the dangers of these vaccines have been discussed on the Diphtheria and Tetanus pages. So, as to not double up, here are other documented adverse events from taking these vaccines, which we now know, doesn’t even work despite requiring 5 doses before age 6.

As far as the efficacy of DTaP Vaccine in Infants, “the studies have not demonstrated a direct correlation between antibody responses and protection against pertussis disease.” – CDC – Pertussis Vaccination: Use of Acellular Pertussis Vaccines Among Infants and Young Children, 1997 pg. 4

“Hypotonic-Hyporesponsive Episode (HHE). HHE is an uncommon response to the pertussis component and occurs within 48 hours of the injection in children under 2. The child usually starts out feverish and irritable and then becomes pale, limp, and unresponsive. Breathing is shallow, and the child’s skin may turn bluish.” – NY Times, 2012

“Neurologic Effects in Pertussis Component. Of concern have been a few reports of permanent neurologic abnormalities that have occurred after children have been vaccinated. Such reports include attention deficit disorder, learning disorders, autism, brain damage (encephalopathy), and even death.” – NY Times, 2012

Possible Adverse Reactions – Sanofi Pasteur Inc (Their Own Admissions)

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic pupura, SIDS, anaphylactic reaction, cellulitis, autism, convulsion/grand mal convulsion, encephalopathy, hypotonia, neuropathy, somnolence and apnea, peripheral mononeauropathy – a single nerve that affects sensation, movement, gland or, or organ function – FDA.gov, 2005