Concerns over whooping cough despite modifications to vaccination programme

maandag 5 januari 2015 17:00

Modifications to the National Immunisation Programme have led to fewer cases of whooping cough among children. However, for babies still too young to be (fully) vaccinated, the pertussis burden remains high, particularly during years with high levels of infection. The number of pertussis infections among adolescents and adults has increased during the last 15 years. This is a (growing) risk to babies. The increase in the number of whooping cough cases is caused by waning immunity after vaccination and because the bacteria has become more resistant to vaccination. This has emerged from the RIVM monitoring of pertussis in the Netherlands between 1989 and 2014.