Recently in the news they
reported on Bordetella pertussis
cases reaching epidemic proportions in California. Bordetella pertussis is a gram negative rod that causes what we
know as “whooping cough”. This disease displays a characteristic “whooping”
sound when the person inhales. There have been more than 800 cases reported
between June 3 – June 17 in California alone. Expanding past those two weeks,
3.458 cases have been presented this year so far, more than the cases the
entire year of 2013. The question is how can this be prevented?
B. pertussis expresses a
toxin, “pertussis toxin” that inhibits the immune system by stopping G protein coupling
in the regulation of converting ATP to cyclic AMP. In the end, it is able to
prevent phagocytes from responding to infection and decrease lymphocytes
entering the lymph nodes. This organism can cause severe problems for infants
and children infected, for example two infant deaths have been reported in the
California cases stated above.
It is possible to prevent
B. pertussis with one easy solution: vaccination. There is a vaccine readily available
called the “DTaP” for children and “Tdap” for adults which provides immunity to
Corynebacterium diphtheria, Clostridium Tetani, as well as Bordetella
pertussis. It is recommended that all pregnant women in their third trimester
get vaccinated. This vaccine does not provide life time immunity, so everyone
should get booster vaccination after 10 years to retain immunity. Check your
records and make sure your Tdap vaccination isn’t overdue!
Article Link:
This blog reminded me that Dr. Baddley mentioned in class today that Alabama is also experiencing an outbreak of whooping cough. I had not heard this, so I decided to look into it. This was not so easy. Each news agency and health organization gave different numbers. Overall, it looks like the ‘outbreak’ is in Mobile County. One local news organization reported that they have had 18 reported cases of pertussis with 10 confirmed. This is increased from last year in which that had 8 reported cases by June. Yet the CDC released a map confirming that Alabama actually has an overall lower number of cases this year than last.
ReplyDeleteStill, pertussis is easily prevented with a vaccine, so it is sad that we have any cases. Until parents come to understand that these vaccines are good and helpful, I unfortunately just see this as an ever-increasing trend.