Vaccine fails to protect babies against whooping cough

Queensland research shows that a resurgence of whooping cough in babies has arisen due to the lack of effectiveness of the current vaccine. The joint study found that children vaccinated against whooping cough with the current vaccine, were three times more likely to develop the highly contagious respiratory infection than children who received an earlier version of the vaccine. The University of Queensland, Queensland Children’s Medical Research Institute (QCMRI) and the Royal Children’s Hospital findings were published overnight in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Although known to be safer than its predecessor, results from the study conducted by QCMRI researcher Dr Sarah Sheridan showed the current vaccine is less effective. QCMRI Senior Research Fellow Associate Professor Stephen Lambert said the new vaccine for whooping cough had been introduced in 1999 into Australia’s national immunisation schedule as it was found to have far fewer side effects than the previous vaccine. Associate Professor...