Whooping cough, a highly contagious bacterial infection, can be serious and even fatal in newborns, but less than half of birthing hospitals in Michigan included prevention information on websites, says a new University of Michigan analysis that appears in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Most hospitals (64 percent) had no information about Tdap vaccination to prevent whooping cough in babies, and the few that did typically buried the information in archived documents.
“Newborns are too young to be vaccinated themselves, and many parents don’t realize the importance of Tdap vaccination during pregnancy in protecting their babies from a preventable and potentially deadly disease,” says lead author Sarah Clark, associate research scientist in the University of Michigan Department of Pediatrics and Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit and associate director of the National Poll on Children’s Health.
“Rather than burying information about infant pertussis prevention in archived pages, birthing hospitals should identify a prominent location to provide specific information about the importance of Tdap vaccination for pregnant women, family members, and others who will be in close contact with a newborn. The goal is to reach those who might otherwise not be aware of the need for vaccination.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Tdap vaccination of pregnant women between the 27th and 36th week of each pregnancy, to ensure that antibodies are transferred from mom to infant. Vaccination of family members further protects infants during the time they are too young to receive their own Tdap vaccinations. The Tdap shot is a combination vaccine that protects against serious bacteria-causing diseases diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis).
The authors note that the birth of a child may especially be a prime time when parents and family members are on websites seeking information about preparing for the labor and delivery stay, hospital visiting hours or other policies.
“The newborn period is a teachable moment when families seek guidance on how to keep their baby healthy, and our findings indicate that too many hospitals are missing this opportunity to share critical health education,” Clark says. “Birthing hospitals should play a role in educating expectant parents about whooping cough prevention, but there’s work to do to make sure that information is easily accessible.”
Also contributing to the article was Dr. Matthew Davis, a professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at the U-M Medical School, professor of public policy at the U-M Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and director of the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.
Both Davis and Clark are members of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.
Doctor Joan Kelly
Hi,Beata Mostafavi
You are absolutely right at the time we can see Few hospital websites educate pregnant women on whooping cough prevention. So Whooping cough malady is transmitted from person to person through coughing, reflex and by returning into direct contact with nasal secretions and mucous secretion from the tract of an individual UN agency is actively contagious.
The time period for B. respiratory disorder once contact with associate degree infected person and before symptoms begin is typically offer to fourteen days however it are often as long as twenty one days. individuals square measure most contagious within the early stages once symptoms could also be delicate and embody solely a stuffy or liquid nose and ill-natured, dry cough. they will stay contagious for many weeks once the spasmodic coughing fits (with or while not whooping) begins. Antibiotics square measure typically prescribed to assist forestall transmission to others and lower the chance of complications, like respiratory illness.
Children and adults, UN agency have gotten one or additional doses of pertussis-containing vaccines (DPT, DtaP, Tdap), similarly as people who haven’t been immunised the least bit, respiratory disorder respiratory disorder.
However, people who have already had B. respiratory disorder respiratory disorder once or have had one or additional respiratory disorder vaccinations usually have a milder case, even if they will still transmit the malady to others.
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