Download Pertussis: Will the vulnerable survive?

By:
Jackie Taylor
MPH 500: Foundations in Public Health
October 2013
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Discuss the bacterium Bordetella pertussis
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Topics that will be discussed will include:
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Epidemiology
Biostatistics
Biomedical
Environmental factors
Disease distribution
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Pertussis is a small gram- negative aerobic
coccobacillus bacteria that is responsible for
causing whooping cough
This bacterium either presents singularly or
in pairs. B. pertussis colonizes in the cilia of
the respiratory tract and grows in this warm
rich medium. (The microbial world, 2005).
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This antigen only affects humans and cannot
jump from species to species.
In 1906 Bordet and Gengou officially isolated
this bacterium and started the growth in a
laboratory.
This was the beginning process for the
vaccine to be made.
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Once the bacterium finds its way to the cilia
in the respiratory tract it begins to colonize.
Once enough bacterium is present the human
host starts to show signs of infection by
exhibiting fever, malaise, and coughing.
This first stage becomes progressively worse
for about ten days, this is when B.pertussis if
found will respond to antibiotics and resolve
fairly quickly.
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Pertussis is an extremely contagious disease
that is growing in numbers annually. This
respiratory disease is spread by direct contact
or picking up phomites, and then touching a
mucus membrane such as your mouth or
eyes.
When an infected person sneezes or coughs
this is how the bacterium is expelled.
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Once exposed the incubation period can be
anywhere from seven to twenty-one days (WHO,
2013).
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The beginning of the illness is when the
individual is most contagious, If being
treated after five days of antibiotics they are
no longer considered contagious.
According to the World Health Organization
back in 2008 195,000 children died
worldwide as a result from pertussis
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Babies may bleed behind the eyes and in the
brain from coughing.
The most common complication is bacterial
pneumonia. About 1 child in 10 with
pertussis also gets pneumonia, and about 1
in every 50 will have convulsions.
Brain damage occurs in 1 out of every 250
children who get pertussis.
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(CDC, 2013)
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One social aspect of disease is socioeconomic
status. The lower socioeconomic tend to have
more health disparities.
What is interesting regarding Pertussis is that
many times an outbreak of this disease is with
high socioeconomic status.
This trend is due to many reasons such as fear of
vaccines, current fad, or belief that they have
educated themselves with proper information
regarding why not to vaccinate.
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The first pertussis vaccine was invented by
Dr. Louis W. Sauer in the 1920’s. Being so
long ago one would think this vaccine
preventable disease would have been
eliminated, but this is far from reality.
Vaccines are not a guarantee but they can
significantly reduce the disease process if one
does contract the bacterium.
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Every year more and more pertussis cases are
showing up in our local neighborhoods, not
just some far off country.
In today’s society there are many groups that
support not vaccinating children for many
different radical reasons.
The Public Health system needs to step in and
start a more aggressive pertussis education
campaign.
If this is just left as it stands now, with the
current trends in the next five to ten years our
nation could be seeing a much broader
epidemic.
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Buncombe County Health Department. Accessed at:
http://www.buncombecounty.org/common/health/Immunizatio
nRates.pdf
Center for disease control: surveillance manual. Accessed at:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/surv-manual/chpt10pertussis.html
Center for Disease Control. Retrieved September 15, 2013 at:
http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/
http://www.typesofbacteria.co.uk/how-when-were-bacteriadiscovered.html Author: Kathryn Senior PhD - Updated: 18
November 2012
Immunize web page. Retrieved at:
http://www.immunize.org/pertussis/
Jaslow.R., California pertussis outbreak. Accessed at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57605357/2010calif-whooping-cough-outbreak-linked-to-vaccine-averseparents/
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Matteo .S., & Cherrry. J. (2005) Molecular Pathogenesis,
Epidemiology, and Clinical Manifestations of Respiratory
Infections Due to Bordetella pertussis and Other Bordetella
Subspecies .Accessed at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1082800/
Preziosi, M., & Halloran, M. (2003). Effects of Pertussis
Vaccination on Disease: Vaccine Efficacy in Reducing Clinical
Severity. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 37(6), 772.
Todar, K. (2005) Pertussis (Whooping cough). Accessed at:
http://textbookofbacteriology.net/themicrobialworld/pertussis.h
tml
World Health Organization. Retrieved September 14, 2013 at:
http://www.who.int/immunization/topics/pertussis/en/index.ht
ml
Schneider, M.J. (2014). Introduction to Public Health. Burlington,
MA: Jones & Bartlet Learning.