Panel recommends whooping cough booster

ATLANTA Confronted with a surge in whooping cough among teenagersand adults, a government advisory panel recommended that young peopleget a booster shot against the disease between the ages of 11 and 18.Currently, youngsters get a series of whooping cough vaccinationsthrough age 6. But the protection wears off as they get older. As aresult, the number of cases among U.S. adults 20 and older nearlydoubled to 5,365 in 2004 from the year before, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. A panel that advises theCDC on immunization practices endorsed adding whooping cough vaccineto the tetanus and diphtheria booster shot children routinely getafter age 11. Over the past two months, the FDA has approved twowhooping cough booster vaccines for adolescents and beyond, Boostrixand Adacel. Whooping cough, a highly contagious disease also known aspertussis, can be fatal to young children, causing coughing so severethat it can crack ribs. Vaccinations have dramatically reduced itsincidence among babies and toddlers. But now roughly 40 percent ofall cases affect adolescents, and 20 percent affect adults, said Dr.David Neumann, executive director of the National Partnership forImmunization. Its become a different type of public health issue thanit was in the 40s and 50s, he said. The new vaccine will help. 30