Why do some people continue to think that the DTaP and Tdap vaccines do not prevent the transmission of pertussis?
The usual suspects…
The DTaP and Tdap Vaccines Do Prevent Transmission of Pertussis
Mostly, it is because it is true that the DTaP and Tdap vaccines do not completely prevent the transmission of pertussis.
That’s right, pertussis vaccines are not perfect.
“Our study provides evidence of a moderate reduction in the risk of laboratory- confirmed pertussis in infants aged ,4 months whose parents have been booster immunized with acellular pertussis vaccine at least 4 weeks earlier.”
Parental Tdap Boosters and Infant Pertussis: A Case-Control Study
But that doesn’t mean that they don’t work at all!
“These results provide direct evidence of the high efficacy of pertussis vaccination in reducing infectiousness in children fully vaccinated with three doses. The effect is invariant over a wide spectrum of case definitions and positive even in children vaccinated with two doses.”
Effects of pertussis vaccination on transmission: vaccine efficacy for infectiousness
Instead, if you are vaccinated, you:
have less of a chance that you will get sick with pertussis than if you were unvaccinated, which means you won’t get others sick
could still get sick, as protection from pertussis tends to wane quicker than other vaccines
have a greater chance for milder disease if you do get sick though, which is good because these breakthrough cases are typically less contagious than a natural infection
might become colonized and could be contagious, even if you are asymptomatic and don’t have symptoms (the baboon study)
So, as you can see, DTaP and Tdap vaccines do reduce the transmission of pertussis, even though they don’t completely prevent it.
It’s another good reason to get vaccinated and protected.
More on Pertussis
Is Your Risk of Death from the Pertussis Vaccine Higher Than from the Disease?
Is Your Risk of Death from the Pertussis Vaccine Higher Than from the Disease?
Does Getting the DTaP Vaccine Make You More Susceptible to Pertussis?
Effects of pertussis vaccination on transmission: vaccine efficacy for infectiousness
Parental Tdap Boosters and Infant Pertussis: A Case-Control Study