And another great article about the Weiss family and Leumit in RBS . Click here.

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of infants, children and adults contracting Pertussis in Israel and the world. The main reason for this increase is due to the decreasing immunity to Pertussis as people get older as the effectiveness of the immunization decreases over time. Pertussis is a dangerous disease, especially for infants under 6 months of age. Complications from Pertussis include pneumonia (more than 5%), weight loss, encephalitis and even death. More than one-third of infants who contract the disease under the age of 1 year will be hospitalized and some of them in the ICU.

The immunization for Pertussis is part of the regularly scheduled childhood immunizations in Israel. The immunization gives excellent immunity and is very safe, but because the immunization can only be given at 2, 4, and 6 months and there is not full immunity until age 12 months, infants under 1 year of age are at high risk for infection.

How can you protect your newborn infant from Pertussis until she is completely protected at age 12 months?

Protection can be provided to an infant via giving the vaccination to every woman at the end her pregnancy (weeks 27-36). The immunization will cause the fetus to receive a large dose of antibodies which will protect the infant until his own immunizations to Pertussis vaccine will be effective at age 12 months. In addition, the immunization will protect the pregnant mother from being infected with Pertussis and thus prevent her from infecting her baby.

Why is the Pertussis vaccine given together with Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Polio? Isn’t this dangerous?

There does not exist in the world any immunization just to Pertussis. Pertussis is always found with Tetanus and Diphtheria and sometimes Polio is included as well. The Polio vaccine that is included is killed virus and there is no contraindication to receive it in pregnancy. This combination is well tested in pregnancy and large studies in England shows that it gives good immunity to the mother and her baby.

Why does the Ministry of Health recommend the Pertussis immunization for EVERY pregnancy?

Despite having been given the immunization in previous pregnancies (even if the previous pregnancy was one year ago), it is important for the pregnant mother to reimmunize for Pertussis because the levels of antibodies needed to protect the newborn infant are much higher than the levels needed to protect an adult. In addition, the levels of antibodies from a previous immunization in an adult decrease rapidly over the first few months after the immunization. These antibodies are enough to protect the mother for a few years, but not the fetus and newborn of subsequent pregnancies.

Side effects of the immunization

Occasionally there are mild side effects to the Pertussis immunization which can occur from 1-3 days after the immunization. Common side effects include redness, swelling, and discomfort at the site of the immunization. Rarer side effects include nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, dizziness, diarrhea, headache and fever. Allergic reactions including anaphylaxis have been reported but these are very rare.

If a woman has received the tetanus shot (Td) in the previous 5 years, there may be some increased risk of mild side effects like redness, swelling and fever but it this is counterbalanced by the large benefit to the mother and child of protection against Pertussis.

Information mainly from Israeli Ministry of Health

As many of you probably know, there has been a recent outbreak of measles in the United States. For people who will be traveling in the future, it is important to know about the seriousness of measles infection and to take the proper precautions.

Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases that we know about with at least a 90% secondary infection rate in susceptible domestic contacts. It can affect people of all ages. Worldwide, measles is one of the leading causes of death in young children. Child mortality rates in the US are 0.1-0.2%. The most common causes of death with measles are croup, encephalitis and pneumonia but nonfatal complications such as otitis, pneumonitis, diarrhea, sinusitis, stomatitis, hepatitis, lymphadenitis and keratitis (which can lead to blindness) are not uncommon.

The first sign of measles is usually a high fever that lasts about 4-7 days. Spots in the side of mouth show up about a day before the body rash. The rash is a red rash usually starting on the face, neck and ears and then spread down the trunk. The rash lasts 5-7 days. Sleepiness, fever, poor appetite, conjunctivitis, cough and runny nose are common. Some people have light aversion, swelling around their eyes and muscles aches.

Measles usually occurs 7-14 days after being exposed.

Diagnosis can be made with a blood test.

Treatment is usually just to give lots of fluids due to diarrhea and the poor drinking. Some doctors advocate supplementation with Vitamin A.

All children over age 12 months should have their vaccinations up to date before traveling to an area with measles. Measles vaccine (MMR) is given at 12 months and at age 6 years in Israel. The Ministry of Health will sometimes give infants MMR at 10 months if they are traveling to endemic areas. One immunization is 95% protective, 2 immunizations is 99% protective. All cases in the US occurred in people who where unvaccinated.

Occasionally fever, cough and rash can occur 10 days after the immunization . There is NO medical evidence that the MMR shot is associated with autism or other serious complications. Large, international trials have looked at this question in detail.