Government approves whooping cough booster
WASHINGTON The government has approved the first booster shot for whooping cough, to vaccinate against a disease that's made a dangerous comeback. Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a bacterial infection that leads to coughing violent enough to break a rib.
The new shot adds pertussis protection to a diptheria and tetanus vaccine designed to be administered to adolescents.
Babies have been getting whooping cough vaccine since the 1940s in developed countries. But it's on the rise, especially among adults and teenagers.
As late as 1980, there were fewer than two-thousand cases a year in the United States.
Last year, there were nearly 19-thousand.
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