Whooping cough explodes in California as researchers admit vaccines are failing
by: Daniel Barker
NaturalNews.com
Saturday, January 10, 2015
The worst whooping cough epidemic in seven decades has hit California this year, with nearly 10,000 cases having been reported by the end of November
Experts are warning that the vaccine currently being used to prevent the disease is partly to blame for the outbreak.
A whooping cough, or pertussis, vaccine was introduced in the 1940s, but only after the mortality rate from the disease had already begun to decline sharply, likely due to better care of infected patients and the natural development of immunity. The vaccine appeared to be effective in reducing the incidence of pertussis, but it also produced significant side effects, including pain and swelling.
In the 1990s, a new whooping cough vaccine replaced the old version. The new vaccine has fewer side effects but does not provide the same long-term protection against the illness that the previous one did. A new study also indicates that the replacement vaccine may not prevent the spread of the disease.
The disease is caused by bacterial infection and was responsible for thousands of deaths each year before the first vaccine was developed, although now it rarely proves to be life-threatening.
While it may not be considered deadly, a case of whooping cough is often quite uncomfortable or painful for its victim — the disease gets it name from the “whooping” sound sufferers make while trying to catch their breath between uncontrollable coughs.
There has been one reported death of an infant attributed to this year’s outbreak. In 2010 (the disease peaks in cycles of three to five years), 10 deaths were reported — and in 2014 the total number of cases in California is expected to well exceed that of 2010.
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