Whooping Cough: The Reality Behind the Myth
Dr. Tyson Perez, D.C.
I like to watch a little bit of mainstream news to keep abreast of the information, or misinformation, being fed to the general public. A few nights ago I saw a report on the evening news effectively blaming unvaccinated kids for the 2010 outbreak of whooping cough in my home state of California based on a retrospective study published recently in the journal Pediatrics. The next morning headlines read “Anti-vaccine parents caused California’s lethal whooping cough epidemic” and “Unvaccinated children helped fuel whooping cough outbreak, data show.” Let’s start from the beginning.
Whooping Cough The Reality Behind the Myth
There were reports of outbreaks starting in the 16th century but Bordetella pertussis was not isolated until 1906. [1] Whooping cough is a toxin-mediated disease associated most commonly with the gram-negative bacterium B. pertussis and the lesser-known B. parapertussis. The bacterium attaches to the cilia (hair like projections) of the epithelial cells in respiratory tract and produce multiple antigens including pertussis toxin (PT), filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) and adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT). These antigens work together to evade host defenses and paralyze the cilia inhibiting the host’s ability of the to clear pulmonary secretions. The incubation period can last from 4-42 days. [1]
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