
Tuesday Apr 10, 2018
Podcast 221: Pertussis makes a comeback — kids have an outsize role
What’s causing this resurgence, and what’s to be done? Pejman Rohani talks about his Science Translational Medicine study that used “gold standard” historical data to examine possible causes.
He and his colleagues conclude that, as with mumps, slowly waning vaccine protection is at play. However, they identify the “core transmission group” as schoolchildren, who have a greater frequency of contacts. Adults, they find, have “at most a minor role.”
LINKS:
- Science Translational Medicine abstract
- Proc Royal Society B review on “the pertussis enigma”
- Podcast 220 on mumps resurgence