Earlier Vaccination Saves Babies Lives
Reported November 05, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — A simple shift in your babys vaccination schedule may protect him or her from an increasingly dangerous disease.
New research shows administering the pertussis, or whooping cough, vaccine to infants two weeks earlier than is customary may significantly reduce infant hospitalizations and deaths due to the illness.
Current guidelines recommend the first dose of diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertusssis (DTaP) at two months of age. New research shows administering the first dose at six weeks of age and shifting the dosing schedule accordingly may prevent at least 1,236 cases of pertussis per year and reduce the number of deaths associated with the disease by 5 to 10 percent.
This is a significantly decreased risk that doesnt necessarily cost anything and could be implemented right away without being outside of current vaccine guidelines, co-lead author Timothy R. Peters, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics at Brenner Childrens Hospital at Wake Forest University, told Ivanhoe.
Dr. Peters said the impact may be even larger since pertussis is hard to diagnose, which leads to missed cases.
Although they dont suggest it, current recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the American Academy of Pediatrics allow for the schedule shift.
Young infants are at the highest risk for complications related to pertussis, including pneumonia, seizures, brain swelling and death. Dr. Peters said parents can also protect their babies from pertussis by receiving the combined tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine themselves.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Timothy R. Peters, M.D.; Pediatrics, 2008;122:1021-1026