BOARDMAN, Ohio - Health experts across the country are encouraging adults, especially pregnant women, to get vaccinated against whooping cough as the number of reported cases increases.
"It is a very severe illness. Who the carriers are, are mostly adults. Adults who cough and cough and cough and their health care professionals don't really think about pertussis as the cause," Dr. Elena Rossi from Akron Children's Hospital.
In fact, only 8.2% of adults in this country are protected against the highly contagious respiratory infection marked by severe coughing spells that often leave patients gasping for air.
"What's important for everyone to realize is that in the last couple of years the recommendations for vaccines or immunizations have changed drastically, dramatically," Dr. Rossi said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adolescents and adults should receive a single dose of Tdap every 10 years.
Infants are vaccinated against whooping cough in five doses beginning at two months of age.
While the disease is often not fatal among adults, it can be deadly among children. Nine babies have died this year.
"The incidents of pertussis have gone up. We are seeing more and more cases of that and this is a very easy, common sense way to try and protect not only the adult but also the at risk patients, the babies and the elderly and otherwise immuno-compromised patients," Dr. Thomas Macabobby from Humility of Mary Health Partners.
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