https://healthimpactnews.com/2014/whooping-cough-outbreaks-among-vaccinated-older-children-increasing/

Whooping Cough Outbreaks Among Vaccinated Older Children Increasing 

Health Impact News - January 3, 2015

Southern California Public Radio reported recently that health officials are becoming worried at the number of older kids who are coming down with whooping cough in Los Angeles County. Most of these are children who have received 5 vaccines for pertussis between the ages of 2 months and 7 years. The vaccine clearly doesn’t work:

But public health officials discovered that “the effects of the vaccine does not seem to last as long as we had hoped,” said Jonathan Fielding, director of the L.A. County public health department. “There is a lot of work going on to understand why it is waning.” (Source.)

And for the first time, they are admitting the fault is the vaccine, and not the small percentage of unvaccinated children:

“Of the pertussis cases in Los Angeles County, 8 percent were individuals who had never been vaccinated. Experts say the number is not a significant factor in the spread of pertussis.” (Source.)

The failed vaccine is still recommended, however, and most other media sources are still blaming the unvaccinated for current outbreaks, in spite of the data not supporting that claim.

Even since this was reported earlier this year, local news media across the country are reporting about outbreaks of whooping cough across the country among fully vaccinated children (see: Martinez family copes with whooping cough despite vaccinations)

Research in 2013 was Ignored by the Media

2013 was the year the CDC and FDA finally admitted there were problems with the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine. The mainstream media largely ignored this data, and continued to blame the very small percentage of the unvaccinated population.

In 2013, there were two major research papers published documenting the failure of the pertussis vaccine. I don’t believe the first one, published in early 2013, received any mainstream media exposure at all, while the second one, later in the year, was back-page news. However, both of these studies should have been headline stories.

The first study reported in early 2013 that researchers had found the first U.S. evidence of vaccine-resistant pertussis. The same phenomenon had been observed in other countries, and research showing that pertussis was developing immunity against the current pertussis vaccine being given to children should have made headline news. But of course, it did not.

Lisa Schnirring from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota summarized the research:

Researchers in other countries have found evidence that circulating strains of Bordetella pertussis have adapted to the acellular vaccine, and researchers today reported similar findings for the first time in US kids, based on genetic analysis of isolates from hospitalized children.

Infectious disease experts have been eyeing waning immunity from acellular pertussis vaccines as a contributor to increasing numbers of cases of pertussis (whooping cough) in several countries, and evidence is mounting that another factor fueling the outbreaks could be that the bacteria are adapting to the vaccine.

The US researchers, including a scientist from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), described their findings in a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Full story here.)

Note that one of the scientists in this study was from the CDC.

Then, later in 2013, the FDA published a study they had conducted on the pertussis vaccine, admitting that cases of whopping cough were increasing among a highly vaccinated public. They studied the effect of the vaccine on baboons, and found out that vaccinated baboons still carried around whooping cough in their throats, spreading it to others.  The N.Y. Times actually reported on this in their “Health Section”.

So both the CDC and the FDA were aware in 2013 that the whooping cough vaccine was not effective, and yet it is still part of the vaccine schedule. Why?

Could it be because the vaccine is part of a combo vaccine, along with diphtheria and tetanus, and that it therefore represents too great of a financial loss for the drug manufacturers to stop using it?

A report last month (January 2014) from Europe revealed that new whooping cough vaccines are in development, as the World Health Organization has also admitted that the pertussis vaccine no longer works. In the U.S., however, unvaccinated children are still being blamed in the mainstream media for the increase in whooping cough cases. (Just do an internet search for “whooping cough unvaccinated” to see this currently happening.)

Since the U.S. Congress has given vaccine manufacturers total legal immunity from being sued for faulty vaccines or injuries and deaths caused by them, a law upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011, there is no legal basis to stop the ineffective whooping cough vaccine from being injected into children. To stop it would cost billions of dollars in vaccine revenues for the next couple of years as they try to develop a new vaccine to replace the current ineffective pertussis vaccine.

And if one is tempted to think that those who manufacture these vaccines would never keep a defective product on the market knowingly, think again. Twenty percent of all white collar corporate crime is now committed in the pharmaceutical industry, with every major vaccine manufacturer now a convicted criminal. A recent editorial written in the British Medical Journal chronicled how the fines levied against this criminal activity is not sufficient enough to prohibit the companies from continuing to act like criminals. (See: BMJ: Escalating Criminal Behavior by Pharmaceutical Companies due to Insufficient Penalties)

As for the government stepping in to protect the public from a failed vaccine? The story of how Julie Gerberding, the head of the CDC from 2002 through 2009, left government to become the president of Merck’s Vaccine division, a $5 billion dollar a year operation, and the supplier of the largest number of vaccines the CDC recommends, pretty much says it all.

Copyright 2014 Health Impact News – permission to reprint fully granted. Links back fully appreciated.

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Related Article: 

Elizabeth Aguilera

February 13 2014

Higher rate of older kids with whooping cough worries health officials

https://www.scpr.org/news/2014/02/13/42196/higher-rate-of-older-kids-with-whooping-cough-worr/ 

A greater share of L.A. County pertussis cases in recent years are among kids 5 to 14, raising questions about the waning efficacy of the current vaccine and sending experts scrambling to review the vaccination schedule.

The recent death of an infant in Riverside County from pertussis has renewed concerns about the disease, also known as whooping cough.

It’s usually thought of as something that mainly targets babies, but from 2010 to 2012, 5 to 14-year-olds made up nearly a third of pertussis cases in Los Angeles County, according to the county Department of Public Health.

It’s a concern because older kids and adults often bring the infection home to infants, who are too young for the vaccine.

Public health officials say this is raising questions about how many times kids should get a pertussis shot. The current vaccine went into widespread use in 1997. It has fewer side effects than the previous one. For more than a decade, kids were getting five separate shots between the ages of 2 months and 7 years.

But public health officials discovered that "the effects of the vaccine does not seem to last as long as we had hoped," said Jonathan Fielding, director of the L.A. County public health department. "There is a lot of work going on to understand why it is waning."

In 2011, the state legislature mandated another pertussis shot, a booster for all incoming 7th graders.

"This is just coming to the surface," said James Watt, chief of communicable disease control at the state Department of Public Health. "The previous vaccines did not confer lifetime immunity but did confer a better duration."

He said national health officials are reviewing the effectiveness of the vaccine and the recommended schedule of doses.

Pertussis is cyclical and peaks every three to five years, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Over the last three decades the peaks have grown larger. CDC officials attribute that to "increased awareness, improved diagnostic tests, better reporting, more circulation of the bacteria, and waning immunity."

Statewide the number of pertussis cases last year were higher than the year before but still lower than the peak in 2010. In Los Angeles County the number of cases has been dropping since the high four years ago. But the share of cases among older kids has remained the same.

Last year pertussis cases in L.A. County among children 1 through 18 years of age were up 22 percent and among those under 1 year old cases were up 9 percent, said Fielding. 

In 2013 there were 183 cases of pertussis in L.A. County and more are still being investigated, according to the county health department. There were 154 cases in 2012. In 2011 there were 453 cases and in 2010, the peak year, there were 972 cases.

Statewide, there were 2,372 cases of pertussis reported in 2013, an increase over the prior year. Children seven to 16 years of age accounted for 62 percent of the cases with the peak age being 15, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Los Angeles County, the CDC, AARP, and other groups have ongoing campaigns encouraging grandparents to get a booster so they can safely be around their grandchildren.

Of the pertussis cases in Los Angeles County, 8 percent were individuals who had never been vaccinated. Experts say the number is not a significant factor in the spread of pertussis.

Parents who do opt out will now have to get a health practitioner to sign a form before their children can start school. Governor Jerry Brown signed the law in the fall and it went into effect this year.

Pertussis vaccinations are given at 2, 4 and 6 months, between 15-18 months and again at 4 through 6 years old. A booster Tdap is given to all preteens before they enter 7th grade. Experts also recommend a booster for pregnant women and anyone who interacts with young children.

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Related:  https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2013/02/researchers-find-first-us-evidence-vaccine-resistant-pertussis 

Researchers find first US evidence of vaccine-resistant pertussis

By: 

Lisa Schnirring

  | 

Feb 07, 2013

 

Feb 7, 2013 (CIDRAP News) – Researchers in other countries have found evidence that circulating strains of Bordetella pertussis have adapted to the acellular vaccine, and researchers today reported similar findings for the first time in US kids, based on genetic analysis of isolates from hospitalized children.

Infectious disease experts have been eyeing waning immunity from acellular pertussis vaccines as a contributor to increasing numbers of cases of pertussis (whooping cough) in several countries, and evidence is mounting that another factor fueling the outbreaks could be that the bacteria are adapting to the vaccine.

The US researchers, including a scientist from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), described their findings in a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine.

So far, lab studies in Japan, France, and Finland have identified variants of B pertussis that are negative for pertactin, a virulence factor and an outer membrane protein that promotes adhesion to tracheal epithelial cells. Pertactin purified from B pertussis is a key component of the acellular pertussis vaccine.

Many countries switched from the whole-cell pertussis vaccine to the acellular version in the late 1990s because of a fairly high rate of minor side effects in the whole-cell vaccine. However, in the face of rising pertussis levels, surveillance studies in the United States and other countries are finding a gap in protection in children who received doses of acellular vaccine. The CDC has said that pertussis cases are at their highest point since 1955.

In the US study, researchers looked at pertactin genes from 12 isolates of B pertussis from children hospitalized in Philadelphia in 2011 and 2012. Most of the patients were younger than 2 years old, but the group also included a 9-year-old and 14-year-old.

They analyzed the pertactin genes from the specimens and amplified and sequenced the coding region. They determined the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns and detected pertactin using Western blotting with antiserum and a strain from the World Health Organization (WHO) as the pertactin-positive reference.

Eleven of the 12 pertussis strains they tested were negative for pertactin. The pertactin allele in all isolates was pm2, but the mutations were different than pertactin-negative pm2 isolates from France, according to the report. (Variants in Japan and Finland had insertion sequences in the pm1 allele.)

The researchers wrote that their finding appears to be the first reported pertactin-negative variant ofB pertussis in the United States and that more studies should be done on isolates from different parts of the country to see if the finding is an isolated local event or a more widespread shift.

"An understanding of the epidemiology and virulence of pertactin-negative variants is crucial to developing the next generation of pertussis vaccines," the group wrote.

Recent studies suggest the pertactin-negative mutants are transmissible in humans. Also, a study by French researchers that appeared Jan 31 in Emerging Infectious Diseases comparing clinical symptoms in infants younger than 6 months old found little difference between the pertactin-negative and pertactin-positive isolates. Their analysis included samples from 60 babies; 20 were pertactin-negative and 40 were pertactin-positive.

They wrote that the findings suggest the negative isolates were as virulent as the positive ones and that more studies are needed to track the virulence of B pertussis species, which could help guide strategies for addressing adaptation to the acellular vaccine.

Several efforts in the United States are under way to explore the spike in pertussis cases, assess the burden of the disease, and examine possible problems with the vaccine, according to expert presentations on Feb 5 before the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, the group that advises the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Queenan AM, Cassiday PK, Evangelista A. Pertactin-negative variants of Bordetella pertussisin the United States. (Letter) N Engl J Med 2013 Feb 7;368(6):583-4 [Abstract]

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https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm376937.htm

FDA NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Nov. 27, 2013

Media Inquiries: FDA- Jennifer Rodriguez, 301-796-8232, jennifer.rodriguez@fda.hhs.gov
NIH- Nalini Padmanabhan, 301-402-1663, padmanabhannm@niaid.nih.gov

Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA,OCOD@fda.hhs.gov

 

FDA study helps provide an understanding of rising rates of whooping cough and response to vaccination

 

A new study is helping to provide a better understanding of vaccines for whooping cough, the common name for the disease pertussis. Based on an animal model, the study conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and published November 25, 2013, in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that acellular pertussis vaccines licensed by the FDA are effective in preventing the disease among those vaccinated, but suggests that they may not prevent infection from the bacteria that causes whooping cough in those vaccinated or its spread to other people, including those who may not be vaccinated.

 

Whooping cough rates in the United States have been increasing since the 1980s and reached a 50-year high in 2012. Whooping cough is a contagious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis bacteria. Initial symptoms include runny nose, sneezing, and a mild cough, which may seem like a typical cold. Usually, the cough slowly becomes more severe, and eventually the patient may experience bouts of rapid, violent coughing followed by the “whooping” sound that gives the disease its common name, when trying to take a breath. Whooping cough can cause serious and sometimes life-threatening complications, permanent disability, and even death, especially in infants and young children.

 

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. In response to concerns about the side effects of the whole cell pertussis vaccine, acellular vaccines were developed and replaced the use of whole-cell pertussis vaccines in the U.S. and other countries in the 1990s; however, whole-cell pertussis vaccines are still used in many other countries.

 

“This study is critically important to understanding some of the reasons for the rising rates of pertussis and informing potential strategies to address this public health concern,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where the study was conducted. “This research is a valuable contribution and brings us one step closer to understanding the problem. We are optimistic that more research on pertussis will lead to the identification of new and improved methods for preventing the disease.”

 

While the reasons for the increase in cases of whooping cough are not fully understood, multiple factors are likely involved, including diminished immunity from childhood pertussis vaccines, improved diagnostic testing, and increased reporting. With its own funds plus support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the FDA conducted the study to explore the possibility that acellular pertussis vaccines, while protecting against disease, might not prevent infection.

 

“There were 48,000 cases reported last year despite high rates of vaccination,” said Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “This resurgence suggests a need for research into the causes behind the increase in infections and improved ways to prevent the disease from spreading.”

 

The FDA conducted the study in baboons, an animal model that closely reproduces the way whooping cough affects people. The scientists vaccinated two groups of baboons – one group with a whole-cell pertussis vaccine and the other group with an acellular pertussis vaccine currently used in the U. S. The animals were vaccinated at ages two, four, and six months, simulating the infant immunization schedule. The results of the FDA study found that both types of vaccines generated robust antibody responses in the animals, and none of the vaccinated animals developed outward signs of pertussis disease after being exposed to B. pertussis. However, there were differences in other aspects of the immune response. Animals that received an acellular pertussis vaccine had the bacteria in their airways for up to six weeks and were able to spread the infection to unvaccinated animals. In contrast, animals that received whole-cell vaccine cleared the bacteria within three weeks.

 

This research suggests that although individuals immunized with an acellular pertussis vaccine may be protected from disease, they may still become infected with the bacteria without always getting sick and are able to spread infection to others, including young infants who are susceptible to pertussis disease.

 

For more information:

• FDA: Vaccines
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

 

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More studies are linked in the original article:  https://healthimpactnews.com/2014/whooping-cough-outbreaks-among-vaccinated-older-children-increasing/.  This is a very well-documented article.