Dtap Vaccine Essay

Words: 878
Pages: 4

Vaccines have combated illnesses in such a successful manner that many deadly illnesses have no or very little presence in the United States, however this means that the attention is now placed on the risks that vaccines can cause. The focus on the risks of vaccines, in this case the Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTaP), has moved more people to join the anti-vaccination movement. With more people choosing not to vaccinate, “herd immunity” is becoming less effective and pertussis, in particular, has shown its ugly head again. While dangerous to people of all ages, pertussis has the potential to have an especially deadly effect on infants. While there are without a doubt risks to the DTaP vaccine, the benefits that come with administering the vaccine especially to infants, greatly outweigh them.
The vaccine was not established as the DTaP vaccine until 1997 (A Look at Each Vaccine). Vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis have, however, been around since the first half of the 20th century. The pertussis vaccine was invented in 1914, diphtheria in 1926, and tetanus in 1938, they were combined as the DTP vaccine in 1948 (A Look at Each Vaccine).
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In 2010 California experienced a pertussis outbreak. There were 9,156 reported cases and between January and October, ten infants under three months of age died (Lloyd). In order to best combat an infant getting pertussis while they are younger than six months, since herd immunity is no longer reliable, pregnant mothers should receive the Tdap vaccine. The pregnant woman should receive the vaccine between 27-36 weeks gestation, this time frame offers the best chance to pass protection from pertussis onto to the unborn child (Tdap for Pregnant