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Fast Fact

The DTaP vaccine is a newer version of the older DPT vaccine. DTaP is designed to immunize against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis.
Diphtheria is a very serious bacterial disease that can make a person unable to breathe, cause paralysis, or even heart failure.
About 10% of the people who get diphtheria die from it. Before the DPT shot was introduced, 17,000 children died in a single year in the United States alone in a diphtheria epidemic.
Over the last several years, only a very few cases of diphtheria have been reported in the United States. In 1988 there were zero cases. This is primarily because most children have had shots to protect them.
Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is caused by a bacterium that is common in the soil. When this germ gets into an open cut or wound, an unprotected person can contract tetanus, which creates serious muscle spasms that can be strong enough to snap the spine.
Even with modern medical care, about 30% of the people who get tetanus die from the disease.
Tetanus was once very widespread, but since 1975 only 50 to 100 cases have been reported each year in the United States.
Pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, can either be a very mild or a very serious disease. It is extremely contagious. It causes repeated spells of coughing that can make it difficult to eat, drink, or breathe.
The number of pertussis cases has climbed in recent years. In 2004, there were 25,827 reported cases.
In most adults, pertussis is very mild. Almost 20% of all adults with chronic coughs may have pertussis that they mistake for allergies or a cold.
In young children it is more severe. It causes repeated spells of coughing that can make it difficult to eat, drink, or breathe.
Babies under 1 year old are most affected. About 1 out of every 200 babies who get pertussis will die of it. Another 1 out of every 200 will have lifetime brain damage. As many as 2% will have seizures, 22% will get pneumonia, and many (even in this modern era of reduced hospitalization) will be sick enough to be hospitalized.
Moderate reactions to the DTaP vaccine occur in 0.1% or less of children and include ongoing crying (for three hours or more), a high fever (up to 105 degrees F), and an unusual, high-pitched crying.
Less than 0.06% of children will have a febrile seizure or a period of shock-collapse, where they become pale and limp for a short period. While these side effects are certainly disturbing, all of the above problems are temporary and have never been demonstrated to create a long-term problem of any kind.
Severe problems from the DTaP immunization happen very rarely (less than 1 in a million doses or less than 0.0001%). These include a serious allergic reaction, a prolonged seizure, a decrease in consciousness, lasting brain disease, or even death.
Major epidemiological studies looking at neurologic risks related to immunization have been unable to demonstrate a causal relationship between DPT and any severe, chronic neurologic disorder.
Many of the reactions to the older DPT (or DTP) injection were from the pertussis component. Children in the United States now receive the newer DTaP vaccine rather than the older DPT vaccine. The DTaP vaccine is a newer and safer vaccine because the pertussis component has been changed.

see Fast Facts about the DTaP Vaccine »

Pertussis

11.02.2002 Add new comment Send to friend Print this article

Related concepts:

Whooping cough, Bordatella pertussis

Introduction to pertussis:

I stood outside the closed door of the hospital room where an adorable 6-week-old baby lay all alone in her crib. As I scrubbed my hands in the sink outside the isolation room, an electronic monitor allowed me to hear her breathing peacefully.

Suddenly the quiet was shattered by a fit of coughing. And she couldn't stop. The coughs came so closely together that she couldn't catch her breath. I grabbed a mask from above the sink and, pressing it over my face, entered her room. The coughing continued. The pulse and oxygen monitor at her bedside complained insistently that her blood-oxygen levels were dropping. The EKG monitor sounded an alarm that her heart rate was dropping too. And she continued to cough. Even before I reached her bedside, I could see that her face was turning blue. She began to vomit.

Moments later the peace had returned. Her various monitors beeped tranquilly. The coughing spasm was over. This little girl with pertussis survived, but she had many more weeks of coughing spasms before she could return home to her parents.

What is pertussis?

Pertussis is caused by bacteria that attach themselves to the cilia (little hairs) that line the respiratory tract. These bacteria produce a potent toxin that inflames the respiratory tract and prevents the cilia from functioning properly. The disease can be serious or fatal in infants and unimmunized children. It is much milder in teens, adults, and in immunized children but it can still be a real nuisance. As you might guess, it can be far worse in people with asthma or with immune deficiencies.

Who gets pertussis?

I have spoken with many parents who believed that pertussis was a disease of the past. Nevertheless, pertussis is a common cause of chronic cough illness in adults and older children. A study published in the June 15, 2001 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases found that pertussis was the cause of chronic cough in 19.9 percent of the patients studied.

For healthy teens and adults, this is usually nothing more than a long nuisance (lasting months, sometimes with vomiting). For unimmunized babies and those at high risk, pertussis can be severe or even life-threatening.

Pertussis, or whooping cough, which once ravaged children around the world, is again on the rise. Worldwide, about 300,000 people die from pertussis each year. Serious disease is uncommon where immunization rates are high. Still, about 1 out of every 200 babies who get pertussis in the US will die from it. Another 1 out of every 200 will have lifetime brain damage. As many as 2 percent will have seizures, 22 percent will get pneumonia, and most (even in this modern era of reduced hospitalization) will be sick enough to be hospitalized.

Pertussis is found only in humans.

What are the symptoms of pertussis?

Classically, people with pertussis go through four stages:

Incubation.
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