Did you know that China has a whooping cough problem and that it is especially hitting China’s elderly population very hard?
And do you understand why that should be a little bit surprising to you?
Why Is Wooping Cough Hitting China’s Elderly So Hard?
Wait, why should we be surprised by elderly people in China getting pertussis?
Mostly it is because most of them likely had pertussis when they were younger; after all, they would have been born before the routine use of the DPT vaccine.
After all, unlike the United States, in China, they didn’t routinely start vaccinating to prevent pertussis until the 1960s.
And a pertussis vaccine wasn’t a part of China’s national immunization program until 1978.
So there is little doubt that most elderly folks had pertussis.
What else?
This is a good reminder that a natural pertussis infection doesn’t provide you with lifelong immunity!
Still, there is another reason that pertussis is such a problem in China.
“Meanwhile, no pertussis vaccine is currently licensed for individuals aged ≥ 7 years in China, which represents a major regulatory barrier within the national immunization system.”
Economic burden of pertussis, its influencing factors, and hospitalization determinants among older adults (≥ 60 years) in Zhejiang, China: a cross-sectional study (2024–2025)
Also unlike the United States, they do not use the Tdap vaccine.
They did switch to DTaP though, in 2012.
And that leaves them with:
children and younger teens with waning immunity from their DTaP vaccines
adults with waning immunity from their DPT vaccines
elderly with waning immunity from their natural pertussis infections
Which equals a lot of pertussis, which is what they have.
Much more than in the United States.
An increase that you can’t blame on their switch from DPT to DTaP, as they had a lot of pertussis before the switch too.
Lastly, it is reported that China may soon be adding a Tdap vaccine to their schedule.
A Tdap vaccine that will likely be given to teens, adults, and pregnant women.
A Tdap vaccine that will help them with their whooping problem that has been hitting the elderly so hard…
Wait, China actually gives out vaccines instead of "Traditional Chinese Non-Medicine"? The wellness woo-hoos were LYING to me! Oh my!