NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon’s Wife Advocates Pertussis Vaccines For Childrens, Adults
Posted By Lana Harris on August 25, 2010
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Ingrid Vandebosch, wife of NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, is modeling perfect new mother behavior by getting her Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis) booster vaccine to help protect herself against pertussis (whooping cough) and reduce her risk of transmitting the disease to her newborn son.
Vandebosch and Gordon, who got his Tdap booster in June, are leading the fight against pertussis as spokespeople for the Sounds of Pertussis Campaign. Vandebosch received her vaccine after recently giving birth to the couple’s second child, Leo Benjamin, on August 9.
“I didn’t know about pertussis when I had my first child, and as a parent, I would never want to put my baby at risk. Now that I know I can decrease the risk of spreading pertussis to Leo by getting an adult pertussis booster vaccine, I got vaccinated. And I encourage other new parents to speak with their health-care providers about getting an adult Tdap vaccination,” said Vandebosch.
Vandebosch and Gordon became involved with the Sounds of Pertussis Campaign after learning how vulnerable newborns are to getting the highly contagious disease from their own parents. Researchers have found that when a source of a baby’s pertussis could be identified, family members were the source for up to 80 percent of pertussis cases in infants and, more specifically, parents were the source 50 percent of the time.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends all adults and adolescents between the ages of 11 and 64 — especially those who have close contact with an infant—be immunized with a Tdap booster. The CDC also recommends that if a new mother has not received a pertussis booster vaccination prior to becoming pregnant, that she get the immunization in the immediate postpartum period to protect herself from pertussis and reduce the risk of spreading the disease to her baby.(1)
Pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, is caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria. It is highly contagious, spread through airborne droplets expelled from the nose and throat through a cough, sneeze or even by talking very close to another person.(2) In adults, symptoms are usually mild, and pertussis is often mistaken for the common cold or even bronchitis.(3) However, in some infants and adults, the disease can cause severe coughing characterized by the unforgettable “whoop” sound made when a person is gasping for breath after a coughing fit.(2) The disease is on the rise across the country. In June, California declared a pertussis epidemic, which has claimed the lives of seven infants. Between 2000 and 2009, the total number of pertussis cases reported to the CDC in the U.S. was approximately 150 percent higher than the total number of cases reported during the 1990s.(4,5)
Adult vaccination against infectious diseases like pertussis, which can easily be spread to babies, is just one precaution suggested by health-care experts. Parents should also ensure that children are up-to-date on all of their vaccinations to help protect them against childhood diseases.