While it s a preventive measure we ve recommended for some time, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has now officially recommended that all American seniors age 65 and older receive a vaccination which would likely be a booster shot for whooping cough. The disease is not usually severe in adults, although the cough can be forceful and long-lasting. However, older folks who do contract the illness can transmit it to infants, for whom the disease can bring dangerous complications. Whooping cough is highly contagious and can be fatal in rare cases.
ACIP s recommendations are generally adopted by the government as guidelines for clinical practice, which means that insurance companies are likely to provide coverage. A vaccine against whooping cough is already included in the regular childhood immunization schedule, as part of the TDaP vaccine (the aP represents acellular pertussis, the causative bug in whooping cough), and a booster is also recommended for young adults.
Now that this is an official recommendation, the whooping cough vaccine should be moved into the regular vaccination schedule for older Americans and covered by insurance, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. What needs to happen now is that doctors must translate this recommendation into actual clinical practice.
