>> >>GUEST SPEAKER: IT WAS LATE SUMMER 2010, SAN DIEGO COUNTY WAS EXPERIENCING WHAT WOULD
BECOME THE WORST WHOOPING COUGH EPIDEMIC IN DECADES.
KPBS INEWS SOURCE LEARNED THE VACCINE WAS FAILING AT AN UNEXPECTED RATE.
JUST HOW DID MATTHEW AND SO MANY OTHERS COME DOWN WITH THE DISEASE THAT IS SUPPOSED TO
BE PREVENTIBLE WITH THE VACCINE?
TONIGHT WE'LL RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THAT VACCINE.
>> >>GUEST SPEAKER: A FOUR MONTH INVESTIGATION BY KPBS IN THE WATCH DOG INSTITUTE FOUND MANY
PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH WHOOPING COUGH WERE ALREADY IMMUNIZED.
JOINING ME TO TALK ABOUT NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTING A NEW STRAIN OF WHOOPING COUGH MAY BE CONTRIBUTING
TO THE INCREASING NUMBER OF CASES IS DR.ÊMARK SAWYER.
HE IS A PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL AND PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
SO WE DIDN'T HEAR A LOT ABOUT WHOOPING COUGH UNTIL RECENT YEARS, REALLY.
REMIND US WHAT THIS DISEASE IS ALL ABOUT.
>> >>MARK SAWYER: WELL, YOUR GRAND PARENTS KNOW ALL ABOUT WHOOPING COUGH BECAUSE BACK
IN THE 40S AND 50S EVERY CHILD HAD IT.
IT'S A RESPIRATORY INFECTION WHICH LEADS TO A VERY PROTRACTED AND DIFFICULT COUGH WHICH
OFTEN ENDS WITH A WHOOP AND THAT'S WHERE THE NAME COMES FROM.
>> >>AMITA: >> >>GUEST SPEAKER: WE DO HAVE A VACCINE THAT'S
AVAILABLE.
WHAT IS THE NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTING WITH REGARD TO WHY THIS VACCINE MAY BE LOSING SOME OF
ITS PUNCH?
>> >>MARK SAWYER: STARTING WITH THE CALIFORNIA OUT BREAK IN 2010, WE RECOGNIZED MORE AND
MORE PEOPLE WERE GETTING THE WHOOPING COUGH EVEN WHEN VACCINATED.
AS WE LEARNED MORE ABOUT THAT, I THINK IT'S BECOME CLEAR BECAUSE THAT'S WE'VE SWITCHED
VACCINES IN THE 1990S AND 2000S TO A DIFFERENT TYPE OF VACCINE AND IT'S NOT WORK AS WELL.
>> >>GUEST SPEAKER: IN OUR IS INVESTIGATION BACK IN 2010 WE ALSO TRAVELED TO THE NETHERLANDS
WHEN WE MET WITH A GOVERNMENT SCIENTIST AND HE HAD BEEN PUBLISHING REPORTS SINCE 1998
TO SUGGEST THAT PERHAPS THE STRAIN OF WHOOPING COUGH IS CHANGING, AND THAT WAS LEADING TO
INCREASED VACCINE FAILURE.
AGAIN, HE HAD BEEN DOING THIS SINCE 1998.
I KNOW OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE ALSO MADE NOTE OF THIS CHANGING STRAIN.
WHY DO YOU THINK THE U.S. HAS BEEN SLOWER TO TALK ABOUT THIS ORAL EVEN TO MAKE THIS
DISCOVERY?
>> >>MARK SAWYER: WELL, I KNOW THE CDC INVESTIGATORS WERE AWARE OF HIS WORK AND THE CHANGING STRAIN.
THEY WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT STRAINS CAUSING OUT BREAKS IN THE MID 2000S IN THE UNITED
STATES AND THEY WERE NOT DUE TO THOSE STRAINS.
WHETHER THE MORE RECENT OUT BREAKS ARE DUE TO CHANGES, I DON'T THINK WE EVEN KNOW YET.
>> >>GUEST SPEAKER: WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH REGARD TO DEVELOPING A NEW VACCINE?
>> >>MARK SAWYER: I THINK THE SIGNAL'S BEEN SENT THAT WE NEED TA NEW VACCINE STARTING
IN 2010 WITH THE INCREASED CASES WHICH HAVE CONTINUED AROUND THE UNITED STATES.
THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF OUT BREAKS SINCE THEN.
I THINK WE KNOW NOW THAT WE NEED A NEW VACCINE.
THE ONE WE SWITCHED TO, ALTHOUGH IT HAD FEWER SIDE EFFECTS WHICH IS THE REASON WE CHANGEED
TO IT, IS NOT WORKING WELL ENOUGH.
THE COMPANIES KNOW WE NEED A NEW VACCINE AND THE SCIENTISTS KNOW THAT AS WELL.
>> >>GUEST SPEAKER: THIS COULD POTENTIALLY TAKE YEARS.
I KNOW YOU'RE ALSO ON THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROLS ADVISORY COMMUNITY ON IMMUNIZATION
PRACTICES, HOW IS THAT COMMITTEE ADDRESSING THAT ISSUE NOW?
>> >>MARK SAWYER: THAT COMMITTEE CAN ONLY MAKE RECOMMENDATION ONS VACCINES WE HAVE NOW.
WE'RE LOOKING PARTICULARLY AT WHETHER ADULTS NEED A BOOSTER DOSE THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED
FOR ONE TIME ONLY.
YOU'RE LIKELY TO SEE A RECOMMENDATION FOR THAT IN THE VERY SHORT TUM TERM.
UNTIL WE GET A NEW VACCINE THAT COMMITTEE CAN'T REALLY ACT AND MAKE NEW RECOMMENDATIONS
UNTIL WE KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT'S COMING.