>> >>JOANN: TWO YEARS AFTER A KPBS INEWS SOURCE INVESTIGATION POST SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT
HOW WELL THE WHOOPING COUGH VACCINE WORKS, IT IS FAILING AT A HIGHER RATE THAN EXPECTED.
TROUBLING NEWS IS THE COUNTRY IS ON TRACK TO EXPERIENCE ITS WORST WHOOPING COUGH EPIDEMIC
IN 50 YEARS.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE GETTING SICK ARE UP TO DATE WITH IMMUNIZATIONS.
WE SPOKE WITH A FAMILY WHO FIRST HAD QUESTIONS WITH THE VACCINE IN 2010.
MATTHEW BRYCE WILL BE TWO IN OCTOBER.
HE'S A PRETTY TYPICAL TODDLER.
THOSE ARE HIS TWO OLDER BROTHERS, JOSHUA AND JORDAN.
WE FIRST MET MATTHEW IN LATE 2010.
HE WAS SICK, RECOVERING FROM WHOOPING COUGH OR PERTUSSIS.
HIS FAMILY WAS BAFFLED AS TO HOW MATTHEW GOT SICK.
THEY HAD ALL BEEN IMMUNIZED.
>> >>: I'M JUST GLAD THAT MY SON IS OVER IT.
>> >>JOANN: WHOOPING COUGH IS AN UPPER RESPIRATORY DISEASE THAT IN ADULTS MIMICS A BAD COLD,
BUT IN BABIES IT CAN BE DEADLY.
>> >>: THE MOMENT I HEARD IT I IMMEDIATELY STARTED THINKING THE WORST.
>> >>JOANN: TEN BABIES DIED FROM WHOOPING COUGH IN 2010, A TOTAL OF 9,000 PEOPLE GOT
SICK MAKE IT THE WORST OUT BREAK IN CALIFORNIA IN 60 YEARS.
A DISEASE THAT HAD BEEN NEARLY WIPED OUT WITH THE VACCINE DECADES AGO WAS MAKING A VENGEFUL
COME BACK.
BEGGING THE QUESTION, WHY NOW.
WHAT WE LEARNED MAY SURPRISE YOU OUR INVESTIGATION FOUND THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WHO GOT WHOOPING
COUGH IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY HAD BEEN UP TO DATE WITH THEIR IMMUNIZATIONS.
WE FOUND A SIMILAR TREND STATE WIDE.
OUR FINDINGS SUGGESTED THE VACCINE WAS FAILING AT N UNEXPECTED RATE.
BUT HEALTH OFFICIALS, EVEN PERTUSSIS EXPERTS WEREN'T BUYING IT.
>> >>: IT'S NOT A REFLECTION ON THE VACCINE.
>> >>: THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE THAT EITHER OF THE TWO VACCINES THAT ARE MOST COMMON
TODAY IN USE IN THE U.S. THAT THERE'S INCREASED VACCINE FAILED OF THOSE VACCINES.
>> >>JOANN: THAT WAS THE COUNTRY'S LEADING WHOOPING COUGH EXPERT DR.ﾊJAMES CHERRY IN
2010.
WE SAT DOWN WITH HIM RECENTLY AT UCLA'S CENTER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES.
>> >>: IN 2010 I THOUGHT CONTINUED BETTER OBSERVATION PLUS BERT TESTS.
MY FRIENDS AT THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH SORT OF SAYING VACCINE FAILURE
IS A MUCH BIGGER PART OF THIS AND I AGREE WITH THEM.
>> >>JOANN: STUD YES BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
BOTH FOUND PROTECTION IN THE VACCINE WANED EARLIER THAN EXPECTED.
RESEARCHERS AT THE CDC SAY A NEW VACCINE, AN ACELLULAR VACCINE MAY BE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
IN 1997 THE U.S. SWITCHED FROM WHOLE SALE VACCINES TO ACELLULAR VACCINES BECAUSE THEY'RE
SAFER, BUT THEY MAY NOT BE AS EFFECTIVE.
OTHER SCIENTISTS SAY A NEW MUTATE TD STRAIN OF PERTUSSIS MAY BE AT FAULT.
RAINY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL DOCTOR AND A MEMBER OF THE CDC ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR IMMUNIZATION
PRACTICES.
>> >>: WE'RE SEEING WANING OVER TIME.
COME UP WITH A VACCINE THAT HAS LONGER PROTECTION.
>> >>JOANN: CURRENTLY KIDS IN CALIFORNIA ARE REQUIRED TO GET SIX DOSES OF PERTUSSIS VACCINE,
AN ADDITIONAL BOOSTER WOULD MAKE IT SEVEN.
SAWYER ADMITS THAT SEVENTH DOSE COULD CAUSE SIGH EFFECTS, THINGS SUCH AS SWELLING AT THE
INJECTION SITE OR FEVER AND THE PERTUSSIS BOOSTER IS CURRENTLY FDA APPROVED FOR ONLY
A SINGLE LIFETIME DOSE.
SAWYER SAYS GIVING MULTIPLE DOSES OF THE CURRENT VACCINE IS STILL THE BEST DEFENSE THEY'VE
GOT IF GOVERNMENT SAYS LET'S JUST GET ANOTHER BOOSTER, WHERE DOES THE PRESSURE COME FOR
INDUSTRY TO FINANCIALLY BE INCENTIVIZED TO MAKE A NEW VACCINE?
>> >>: WELL Y HOPE IT COMES FROM US, FROM US, THE PUBLIC.
>> >>JOANN: THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE WE FIRST MET THE BRYCE FAMILY NEARLY TWO YEARS AGO.
MARLIN, A RESERVIST IN THE MILITARY HAS BEEN DEPLOYED TO GERMANY FOR A YEAR.
>> >>: DADDY, WHEN YOU COME HOME FROM GERMANYﾊ >> >>JOANN: MARLIN BRYCE REFLECTS BACK ON
THE QUESTIONS HE HAD ABOUT THE VACCINE WHEN HIS SON FIRST GOT SICK.
>> >>: I'M JUST VERY, VERY HAPPY THAT HE'S HERE WITH US TODAY.
THE SAD THING IS THAT THERE'S SOME PARENTS OUT THERE TODAY THAT THEIR KIDS ARE NOT HERE
TODAY.