FDA to decide whether to recommend booster for whooping cough [PARA][PARA]07/13/2004
In response to the growing incidence of whooping cough nationwide, the FDA is evaluating the need for whooping cough booster shots that would be administered alongside tetanus and diphtheria booster shots, the Associated Press reports. The CDC has reported outbreaks of whooping cough-known as pertussis-in 11 states so far this year and notes that there were 11,000 cases of whooping cough in the United States in 2003, up from 9,771 in 2002 and the highest number of cases in 30 years. It is unclear why pertussis is now on the rise, but some experts speculate that it is attributable to waning immunity during adolescence; children currently receive five doses of the pertussis vaccine between ages two months and six years, but resistance declines five to 10 years after the last shot. Last week, GlaxoSmithKline applied for FDA approval for Boostrix, a pertussis booster shot that would be administered to children and adolescents ages 11 to 18 years. Meanwhile, Aventis Pasteur is soon expected to seek FDA approval for Adacel, a pertussis-tetanus-diptheria booster that would target a wider age range of 11 to 64 years. Following FDA approval of the booster shots, which is expected early next year, the CDC will recommend who should receive the booster shots (Neergaard, AP/Los Angeles Times, 7/12). [PARA] /R