HOW IS PERTUSSIS SPREAD?
Learn more about how pertussis is passed from person to person
When a person with pertussis coughs, the bacteria that cause the disease travel through the air in small droplets. If an unprotected person breathes in this air, he or she can get pertussis.1
While many adolescents and adults get a milder form of the disease, they can still pass it on to vulnerable infants (those who have not had a full series of vaccinations).2
Pertussis transmission at home
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have done research to determine how an infant gets pertussis. Researchers interviewed 616 families that included an infant with a reported case of pertussis. They were looking for the source of pertussis, meaning a person with a severe cough who had been in contact with the sick infant 7 to 20 days before the infant’s cough started. For more than half of the infant cases the source was not found, but the source was found or suspected for 264 infants. For these infants for whom the source was found or suspected, a mother was the source in one third of these infant cases. A family member was the source in three quarters of these infant cases.3*
Rollover the labels below to learn more about how pertussis is spread*
* It is unknown whether immunizing adolescents and adults against pertussis will reduce the risk of transmission to infants.3
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References: 1. US National Library of Medicine. Pertussis. Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001561.htm. Accessed February 7, 2007. 2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. Atkinson W, Hamborsky J, McIntyre L,Wolfe S, eds. 10th ed. Washington, DC: Public Health Foundation, 2007. 3. Bisgard KM, Pascual FB, Ehresmann KR, et al. Infant pertussis: Who was the source? Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2004;23:985-989.
SAFETY INFORMATION
Indication
Adacel vaccine is given as a single dose to people 11 through 64 years of age for active booster immunization for the prevention of tetanus (lockjaw), diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough).
Safety Information
Side effects to Adacel vaccine include injection site pain, redness, and swelling; headache, body ache, tiredness, and fever. Tell your doctor if you have ever experienced a severe brain disorder, such as encephalopathy (altered consciousness) or Guillain-Barré syndrome (severe muscle weakness), after a previous dose of a tetanus toxoid- or pertussis-containing vaccine. Other side effects may occur. Vaccination with Adacel vaccine may not protect all people receiving the vaccine.
For more information about Adacel vaccine, talk to your health-care professional.
Last modified: 2/20/09
