CDC: Whooping cough cases may be most in 5 decades

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_WHOOPING_COUGH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-19-12-58-45

ATLANTA (AP) -- Health officials say the nation is on track to have the worst year for whooping cough in more than five decades.

Nearly 18,000 cases have been reported so far - more than twice the number seen at this point last year. At this pace, the number of whooping cough cases will surpass every year since 1959.

"There is a lot of this out there, and there may be more coming to a place near you," Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Wisconsin and Washington state each have reported more than 3,000 cases, and high numbers have been seen in a number of other states, including New York, Minnesota, Kansas and Arizona.

[phantom power]

1. vaccinations - the most successful public health technology since soap and water.

[xchrom]

2. +1

[kestrel91316]

3. Indeed.

[kestrel91316]

4. Triumph of the Antivaxers - the film is on the way.

[cbayer]

5. They gave me a booster vaccine last time I had a tetanus shot.

Apparently the vaccines administered to most children have lost their efficacy and need boosters.