Brain damage following whooping cough vaccination : is it time to lay the myth to rest?

Abstract

Whooping cough causes significant morbidity and mortality, especially in early infancy. Although an effective vaccine exists, vaccine uptake in Malta was previously disappointing due to the general public’s and the medical community’s doubts regarding vaccine efficacy and safety. The aim of this study was to review population-based studies which have analysed the potential short and long term neurological sequelae following pertussis and pertussis vaccination, to describe vaccine uptake globally and in Malta over the past 15 years, and to analyse the effect of vaccine uptake on pertussis epidemics in Malta. This study found that pertussis vaccine uptake has only become satisfactory in recent years, with a resulting attenuation in the most recent pertussis outbreak. Uptake has increased progressively all over the world, and no study has ever incriminated pertussis vaccination as a cause of permanent neurological disability, both locally and abroad. This should encourage the present continuing trend of pertussis uptake.