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Pertussis Fast Facts


From our March 22, 2018 Facebook Post:

🤥The opposition says:
“We must close the conscientious exemption ‘loophole’ (🙄) in order to prevent outbreaks of ‘vaccine-preventable diseases’!”

📉The FACTS say:
Texas cycles between about 1,000 and about 3,000+ cases of pertussis (whooping cough) per year.

2013 was the most recent “outbreak” year for our state:
Number of cases: 3,985
DTap/Tdap vaccination rates among school children: 97.1%

2016 is the most recent year data is available:
Number of cases: 1,286
Dtap/Tdap vaccination rate for school children: 97%

2013 “outbreak” vaccination rate among school children: 97%
2016 non-outbreak vaccination rate among school children: 97%

🤷‍♂️Weird. It’s almost as if vaccination coverage among school children has absolutely no effect on disease incidence rates. Pesky facts, though, am I right?

🔬The SCIENCE says:
“These vaccines (DTap/Tdap) have not been extensively studied for clinical efficacy in North America, and no studies exist for long-term immunogenicity (🤔).”

“In reviewing cases confirmed at our medical center during this outbreak, we noted effective protection of younger children. Our unvaccinated and undervaccinated population did not appear to contribute significantly to the increased rate of clinical pertussis. Surprisingly, the highest incidence of disease was among previously vaccinated children aged 8–12 years.”

➡️Link to study cited above:
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/54/12/1730/452864
➡️Texas Immunization Coverage Rates:
http://www.dshs.texas.gov/immunize/coverage/schools/
➡️Texas Pertussis Incidence Rates:
http://www.dshs.texas.gov/idcu/disease/pertussis/statistics/

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