The Chicago Tribune reports that “whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory infection marked by violent coughing, has made a comeback in Chicago and in other parts of the country. Health officials are urging adolescents and adults — especially those who interact with newborns — to get a whooping cough booster shot.”
The Tribune points out that the Chicago Department of Public Health “has used federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to purchase 14,070 doses of Tdap vaccine and distributed them to 13 birthing hospitals to immunize postpartum women before they are discharged.”
So, if you or your adolescent child have NOT had your diptheria, whooping cough (pertussis), and tetanus immunization (dTap), even if you have had a diptheria and tetanus immunization (dT) anytime in the last ten years, now’s the time to get one.
You not only protect yourself from whooping cough (which is becoming far too common around the country), you also protect all babies under six months of age that you will be around.