Whooping Cough Vaccine in Pregnancy Beneficial for Infants

Vaccinating against whooping cough during pregnancy can help in preventing newborns and infants getting the deadly disease during the initial stages after birth, according to authorities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Reuters Health reports.

Whooping cough or pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial disease. It starts mildly with a sore throat and then slowly develops into a severe cough, making a high-pitched whoop sound in the infected person.

The disease spreads from one to another when the infected person sneezes or coughs. Small and unvaccinated children are at a higher risk of developing the contagious disease than others, and the infection can prove to be life-threatening in some cases.

Though antibiotics can be used to treat the disease during the early stages, vaccination is the prime factor used to prevent this occurrence. In the country, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis) vaccines are available for children in five doses - two, four, six , 15-18 months and four- six years. A single dose of another vaccine Tdap is available for children aged between 11 and 18 and adults aged between 19 and 64.

According to the new immunization schedule from CDC, pregnant women should receive one dose of the Tdap vaccine during the last stages of pregnancy. The antibodies the baby receives while in the womb will protect it against pertussis in the early stages of life.  Apart from that, the vaccine also reduces the risks of mother-to- child transmission of the disease.

"It turns out that immunity wanes pretty quickly," Dr. H. Cody Meissner, a pediatrician from the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, who is on the CDC's immunization committee, told Reuters Health. "Without boosting with each pregnancy, a mother's immunity will wane and she will have much less immunity to pass on to the baby."

Apart from that, the CDC also recommends a whooping cough shot for everyone who will come in close contact with the newborn.