Whooping Cough Shot

I forgot to mention that my doctor told me at my appointment yesterday afternoon that I needed to get the shot for the whooping cough when I am 36 weeks pregnant in early February.

She said that her office has been encouraging pregnant patients in the last year to get the whooping cough shot because the whooping cough has entered back into the USA, and it could be serious.

While she wants me to get the shot at 36 weeks pregnant or later, because there's a good chance that the effects of the vaccine will pass to the unborn baby at that time period, she really wants David and any family members in close contact with the baby to get the shot, too.  My doctor said that we can all go to a Walgreens or Kroger pharmacy and easily get the shot.

I looked up "whooping cough" or the formal name, PERTUSSIS, to see exactly what it was.

Here's an explanation from the web site http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/

Whooping cough — known medically as pertussis — is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. Although it initially resembles an ordinary cold, whooping cough may eventually turn more serious, particularly in infants. The best way to prevent it is through vaccinations. The childhood vaccine is called DTaP. The whooping cough booster vaccine for adolescents and adults is called Tdap. Both DTaP and Tdap protect against whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria.

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Here is an article called "Help Protect Babies from Whooping Cough" from February 2015 about the importance of getting the whooping cough vaccine: http://www.cdc.gov/features/pertussis/

Help Protect Babies from Whooping Cough

Whooping cough is a serious disease that can cause babies to stop breathing. You can help protect babies from whooping cough by getting your vaccine and making sure your baby gets his vaccines.

Whooping cough, which is also called pertussis, is very contagious and most serious for babies. People with whooping cough usually spread the disease by coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who then breathe in the bacteria that cause the disease. Many babies who get whooping cough are infected by parents, older siblings, or other caregivers who might not even know they have the disease.

When babies catch whooping cough, the symptoms can be very serious. Young babies could get pneumonia (lung infection), and many have trouble breathing. About half of babies younger than 1 year of age who get whooping cough end up in the hospital, and a few even die from the disease.

Because the disease can make babies so sick, and they can catch it from anyone around them, they need protection. These are the three important ways you can help protect them with vaccines:

• If you are pregnant, get vaccinated with the whooping cough vaccine in your third trimester.
• Surround your baby with family members and caregivers who are up-to-date with their whooping cough vaccine.
• Make sure your baby gets all his doses of the whooping cough vaccine according to CDC's recommended schedule

Pregnant Women Need Whooping Cough Vaccine

If you are pregnant, talk with your doctor or midwife about getting the whooping cough shot called Tdap, to protect yourself and your baby. CDC recommends you get your Tdap vaccine between the 27th and 36th week of each pregnancy. After you get the shot, your body will create protective antibodies and pass some of them to your baby before birth. These antibodies provide your baby some short-term protection against whooping cough in early life when your baby is too young to get vaccinated. These antibodies can also protect your baby from some of the more serious complications that come along with whooping cough, such as pneumonia and encephalopathy (disease of the brain).

Everyone around Your Baby Needs to Be Up-to-Date with their Whooping Cough Vaccine

You can provide indirect protection to your baby by making sure everyone who comes in close contact with your baby, from older siblings and cousins to grandparents and caregivers, is up-to-date with their whooping cough vaccine.  Anyone who isn't up-to-date with their whooping cough vaccine should get vaccinated at least two weeks before coming into close contact with a baby. These two weeks give your body enough time to build up protection against whooping cough.

Keep Your Baby's Whooping Cough Vaccine Current

Getting the whooping cough vaccine during pregnancy provides your baby some short-term protection, but he needs his own vaccine (called DTaP) to protect him as he grows up. For best protection against whooping cough, children need five doses of DTaP. The first dose is recommended when your baby is 2 months old. He will need 2 more doses after that, given at 4 months and 6 months, to build up high levels of protection. Vaccine protection for whooping cough decreases over time, so booster shots are recommended at 15 through 18 months and at 4 through 6 years to maintain that protection.

Know the Signs of Whooping Cough

Whooping cough disease starts like the common cold, with a runny nose or congestion, sneezing, and maybe a mild cough or fever. But after 1–2 weeks, severe coughing can begin.

Unlike the common cold, whooping cough can become a series of coughing fits that continues for weeks. Whooping cough can cause violent and rapid coughing, over and over, until the air is gone from the lungs and you are forced to inhale with a loud "whooping" sound. It is important to know that many babies with whooping cough don't cough at all. Instead, it can cause them to stop breathing.

When you or your child develops a cold that includes a prolonged (lengthy) or severe cough, it may be whooping cough. The best way to know is to contact your doctor.