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medpundit |
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Monday, June 13, 2005An acellular version was thus adopted - one that was made of what was considered to be the most important bacterial proteins for providing immunity. There was much concern at the time of its adoption that the new vaccine would confer immunity that was of shorter duration than the whole cell version. The concern was waived off by the public health officials responsible for the decision. Now, eight years after its introduction, we're seeing an increase in cases in teenagers. Those would be the kids who got the DTaP before they went to kindergarten rather than the DTP. Some say this increase is artificial. That we're just getting better at diagnosing it and that we're more aware of it now in older children than we used to be. Could be. But you have to wonder if the switch to the less immunogenic - but safer - vaccine had something to do with it. In the near future, you can expect to get a whooping cough booster when you get a tetanus shot. For that's what the new vaccine is - tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. An adult version of the infant vaccine. No word on how much it will cost. posted by Sydney on 6/13/2005 08:55:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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