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Hello, Saya Joanne Faryon.

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Selamat datang di acara khusus malam ini. Ketika Kekebalan Tubuh Gagal: Epidemik Batuk Pertussis.

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Kita akan mendalami batuk pertussis terparah yang merajalela di California

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dalam 60 tahun ini.

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Mengapakah penyakit yang hampir punah 30 tahun yang lalu ini,

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kini kembali lagi, dan yang lebih parah

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menyerang ke seluruh negara di dunia?

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Apa yang kami temukan mungkin akan mengagetkan.

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Pertanyaan serius tentang seberapa kuatkah vaksin

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dapat mencegah penyebarluasan penyakit

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pertanyaan-pertanyaan resmi ke departemen kesehatan

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yang lamban direspon.

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KBPS bergabung bersama Watchdog Institute,

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sebuah pusat investigasi jurnalisme

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di Universitas San Diego,

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dan jaringan Radio Netherlands Worldwide untuk mengungkap kisah ini.

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Kisah yang membawa kita melintasi California

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hingga ke Amsterdam.

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But first, we begin in a delivery room

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in a San Diego hospital, where a mother has just given birth

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to her third son.

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[ baby crying ]

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Matthew Jacob Bryce was born Oct 11, 2010.

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A healthy baby, the third boy for Cindy and Marlon Bryce.

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Matthew started showing signs of a cold

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when he was just two weeks old.

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The Bryce family knew something was wrong.

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MARLON BRYCE: It just seemed

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like this cold it was just affecting his breathing.

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FARYON: The family was aware of the whooping cough epidemic

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in California, from news reports REPORTER:

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State health officials say more than 6,400 cases

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of whooping cough have been reported this year.

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FARYON: And their pediatrician.

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BRYCE: There wasn't any whooping

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or they always say there is a whooping or a cough,

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he didn't have a cough or anything it was just

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that there was a cold.

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FARYON: Matthew's doctor suspected it could be whooping

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cough, also known as Pertussis.

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She took a nasal swab and sent it to the lab.

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She also started Matthew on antibiotics.

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Six days later, with Matthew just 23 days old,

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Cindy Bryce got a phone call

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from the California Department of Health.

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The diagnosis was whooping cough.

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M. BRYCE: The moment I heard it I just immediately started

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thinking the worst because you have heard the news

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about the babies that have passed away.

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FARYON: From January to October this year,

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10 newborns in California died from whooping cough,

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two in San Diego County.

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More than 7,000 children and adults got sick

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from the disease - the highest number in the state

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in more than 60 years.

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Just how did Matthew and so many others come down with a disease

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that is supposed to be preventable with a vaccine?

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Tonight we'll raise questions

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about the effectiveness of that vaccine.

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A four-month investigation by KPBS and the Watchdog Institute,

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found many people who have been diagnosed

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with whooping cough were immunized.

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We also show how government data on the number

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of people diagnosed with whooping cough lacks timeliness

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and is often inconsistent, begging the question:

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just who is keeping track of this epidemic?

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We'll show you how some of the experts

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who influence vaccine policy are financially tied

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to vaccine companies.

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And, we'll follow the Bryce family as they struggle

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with their son's diagnosis, and the setbacks in his recovery.

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Whooping cough, violent cough, the hundred-day cough;

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all names for Pertussis.

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DR. JAMES CHERRY: What causes the cough actually we

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don't know...

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there's no other cough quite like it.

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FARYON: Pertussis is a respiratory illness caused

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by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.

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At first, it can mimic a cold.

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But later produces a violent and persistent cough,

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a cough that leaves children gasping for air -

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creating the distinct whooping sound.

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For adults, whooping cough may only be a nuisance.

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In fact scientists estimate more than 80 percent

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of adult cases are never diagnosed

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because most people assume they just have a bad cold.

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But to infants whooping cough can be deadly,

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especially if not diagnosed early.

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DR. JAMES CHERRY: So with infection

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that you eventually clear the bacteria and you get better.

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But it's a prolonged, most cases ...

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a good percentage of cases in children

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will last for one or two months.

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DR. FRITS MOOI: After a pertussis infection

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you often get super infections, actually that is one

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of the main complications, pneumonia.

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FARYON: Young babies aren't able to cough up secretions

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that collect in their lungs, leading to pneumonia

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and making it difficult to breathe.

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Early antibiotic treatment is most critical in this age group.

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Whooping cough was nearly wiped out by the late 1970's

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because of mass immunization,

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but it's somehow found its way back to California

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and other highly vaccinated communities around the world.

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Just why it's made such a vengeful comeback has two

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of the world's leading whooping cough experts in disagreement.

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Dr. James Cherry of UCLA: CHERRY:

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The main reason is increased awareness.

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FARYON: and Dr. Frits Mooi of the Netherlands Centre

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for Infectious Diseases Control.

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MOOI: We found really a new mutation in the bug.

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FARYON: Dr. Mooi and Dr. Cherry both began their research

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into Whooping Cough about 30 years ago.

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Cherry in the U.S. and Mooi in The Netherlands.

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The two scientists know each other's work.

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CHERRY: First of all, his molecular microbiological science is,

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he's right at the top of scholars.

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There's no question about that.

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I think where some of the things he's published is the clinical

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data are not very good.

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MOOI: I don't communicate too much with him but what he wrote

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in the press is that I screw up epidemiology.

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That doesn't help me too much.

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FARYON: To understand why these two experts disagree,

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you need to know a little about the history

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of the pertussis vaccine.

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ANNOUNCER: Since most serious cases occur before school age,

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immunization in school may be too late.

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FARYON: The bacteria that causes whooping cough was first

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isolated in Belgium in 1906.

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At the time, the illness was one

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of the leading causes of infant death.

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ANNOUNCER: In 1921, whooping cough killed 316

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Michigan children.

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Last year, the number of deaths was reduced to 63.

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FARYON: The discovery lead to the first attempts at a vaccine.

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But it wasn't until the late 1940's scientists developed a

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vaccine effective enough to prevent whooping cough.

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ANNOUNCER: Unlike the disease however,

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a vaccine does not endanger life.

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FARYON: By 1946, mass immunization programs began

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in the U.S. and the number of cases dropped dramatically.

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Prior to the vaccine the rate

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of disease was 157 cases per 100,000.

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By the 1970's, with large scale immunizations, fewer than one

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in one hundred thousand people got whooping cough.

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But the vaccine was not without controversy.

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The early versions were associated with side effects

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such as prolonged crying spells and seizures in babies.

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By 1996, the FDA approved a new whooping cough vaccine.

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It was called an acellular version.

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That means the vaccine uses only purified components

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of the disease-causing organism.

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That vaccine was considered to be safer and associated

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with few mild side effects.

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Today, the U.S. uses only the acellular pertussis vaccine.

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But as the United States was changing vaccines something else

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was happening

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health officials across the country were reporting increasing numbers

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of positive whooping cough cases.

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And in a government lab about 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam,

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a group of scientists had discovered something else -

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the bacterium that causes whooping cough started

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to look a little different.

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MOOI: This new mutation had the effect that the bacteria started

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to produce more pertussis toxin.

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FARYON: Just whether that mutation is to blame,

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at least in part, for the California epidemic

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and outbreaks elsewhere in the world is at the heart

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of the whooping cough debate.

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Dr. Mooi believes this to be the case, but not Dr. Cherry.

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CHERRY: Even though these changes have occurred there is

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no evidence that that's lead to increased vaccine failure.

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FARYON: Here in San Diego County, more than 85 percent

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of children are immunized.

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In fact, less than three percent

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of kids entering kindergarten have not been immunized

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because of their family's personal beliefs.

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But despite the high immunization rate,

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San Diego has the second largest number

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of positive whooping cough cases in California.

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Dr. Dean Sidelinger is San Diego's deputy public

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health officer.

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DR. DEAN SIDELINGER: This is a disease

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that if someone has it it's very easily transferred

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from one person to another.

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So if you or I sitting here during this interview,

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one of us had pertussis chances are we could transmit

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that to the other person.

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Sidelinger says in the past,

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the number of whooping cough cases peaked in summer

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and slowed by fall, but this year, that didn't happen.

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SIDELINGER: So as time goes on we're seeing more cases.

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We know that public awareness plays into that as we talk

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about Pertussis more people are asking their doctors

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and doctors are asking their patients we're going

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to see more, but that trend continued.

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FARYON: By the end of November 2010, nearly 1000 infants,

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children and adults in San Diego County tested positive

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for whooping cough.

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More than half of them had been immunized.

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Our investigation shows

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that trend continues throughout California.

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KPBS and The Watchdog Institute collected data

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from 9 California counties that report some

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of the highest infection rates.

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Our research shows that where immunization history is known,

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between 44 and 83 percent of people diagnosed

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with whooping cough were vaccinated.

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We looked at California Department

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of Public Health records too.

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In cases where vaccination history was recorded,

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more than 80 percent of infected people had been immunized.

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DR. MARK HORTON: From the epidemiology experts

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and the experts in vaccine this is absolutely expected.

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FARYON: Dr. Mark Horton is the director

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of the California Department of Public Health.

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HORTON: If you've got a percentage

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of the population vaccinated and a percentage of those vaccinated

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that are still susceptible

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because the vaccine isn't perfectly effective or effective

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in all individuals, when you work

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out the arithmetic you'll see that even

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with a very effective vaccine,

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and even if you have the majority

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of the population vaccinated,

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the pool of susceptibles will include a number of individuals

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that have never been vaccinated

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but will also include quite a few and in some cases greater

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than 50 percent

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of the individuals have been previously vaccinated.

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FARYON: In other words, if you do the math,

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you will always find a certain number

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of immunized people getting sick

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if a vaccine is not 100 percent effective.

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HORTON: So that's no surprise to us nor is it a reflection

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on the efficacy of the vaccine.

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REPORTER KEVIN CROWE: It's not a reflection

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on the efficacy of the vaccine?

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HORTON: Correct, correct.

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FARYON: But 20 years ago, the reverse was true.

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According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control,

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more than half of the children between 3 months and 4 years old

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who got whooping cough nationwide between 1990

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and 1996 were not immunized.

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The rate of whooping cough has also been increasing

0:11:56.048,0:11:58.004
for the past 20 years.

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From less than one in 100,000

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to 18 per 100,000 here in California.

0:12:04.025,0:12:08.058
And in some California counties such as San Luis Obispo,

0:12:08.058,0:12:12.087
rates are nearly as high as before vaccines were developed.

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Two days after our interview

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with the Bryce family, Matthew got a fever.

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He was hospitalized at Rady's Children's Hospital

0:12:21.048,0:12:24.000
in San Diego.

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Matthew was not immunized against whooping cough.

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He's too young.

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Babies can't be immunized until they're two months old.

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But everyone else in the Bryce family was vaccinated -

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even his parents got booster shots.

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The practice of immunizing everyone

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around a newborn baby is called cocooning.

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CINDY BRYCE: When I called the doctor they asked me who has it

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and I couldn't give them an answer because I don't know

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where he got it from because everyone's been vaccinated.

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FARYON: Myron and one of his sons were also tested

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for whooping cough - both were negative.

0:12:58.038,0:13:00.099
M. BRYCE: The one thing I would want

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to know is the vaccine working?

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Is it as effective because before this I thought the

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vaccine was working and I thought that if I did everything

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that I was told to do that our sons would be protected.

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FARYON: Just how effective is the vaccine?

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That all depends on who you talk to.

0:13:32.070,0:13:34.025
Drug information included

0:13:34.025,0:13:37.011
with the two most commonly used whooping cough vaccines

0:13:37.011,0:13:40.040
in the US say the vaccine is 85 percent effective.

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MOOI: This new strain has completely invaded the

0:13:44.012,0:13:46.049
Netherlands and also other countries and pushed

0:13:46.049,0:13:48.028
out all the other strains.

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It's quite unique.

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FARYON: Dr. Mooi believes there's no way

0:13:51.065,0:13:54.048
to determine how effective the vaccines are

0:13:54.048,0:13:56.012
because they have not been tested

0:13:56.012,0:13:58.038
against the new strain of whooping cough.

0:13:58.038,0:13:59.074
MOOI: We call it the p3 strain.

0:13:59.074,0:14:02.054
FARYON: A strain he believes is more virulent

0:14:02.054,0:14:04.000
and can make people sicker.

0:14:04.000,0:14:07.053
This strain emerged while the new acellular vaccines were

0:14:07.053,0:14:08.037
being developed.

0:14:08.037,0:14:09.050
MOOI: I can tell you one

0:14:09.050,0:14:14.032
of the reasons the vaccine companies are not too happy

0:14:14.032,0:14:20.075
with me is because if what I say is true they selected the wrong

0:14:20.075,0:14:22.098
strains in the 1980's.

0:14:22.098,0:14:25.044
FARYON: Mooi's lab was studying the new strain

0:14:25.044,0:14:28.062
when The Netherlands experienced an unexpected whooping cough

0:14:28.062,0:14:30.026
epidemic in 1996.

0:14:31.005,0:14:33.014
MOOI: There was a very direct relationship

0:14:33.014,0:14:37.069
between the emergence of these strains, we call them p3 strains

0:14:37.069,0:14:40.063
and the increase in pertussis notifications.

0:14:40.063,0:14:44.082
CHERRY: There's absolutely no evidence that either

0:14:44.082,0:14:48.087
of the two vaccines that are most common today used

0:14:48.087,0:14:54.033
in the U.S. that there is increased vaccine failure

0:14:54.033,0:14:56.001
with either of those vaccines.

0:14:56.001,0:15:01.012
FARYON: So if you had to explain why we're seeing this epidemic

0:15:01.012,0:15:03.008
the highest number of cases in 60 years,

0:15:03.008,0:15:04.069
what would you tell people?

0:15:04.069,0:15:07.055
CHERRY: The main reason is increased awareness.

0:15:07.055,0:15:12.050
People, particularly public health people are much more

0:15:12.050,0:15:14.088
aware and that trickles down.

0:15:14.088,0:15:17.055
FARYON: Cherry says the increase is also due in part

0:15:17.055,0:15:19.088
because of something called waning immunity.

0:15:19.088,0:15:23.050
Immunity to whooping cough does not last a lifetime,

0:15:23.050,0:15:26.044
whether you are vaccinated or develop natural immunity

0:15:26.044,0:15:27.096
from getting the disease.

0:15:27.096,0:15:31.059
Almost all experts agree waning immunity is contributing

0:15:31.059,0:15:34.035
to whooping cough outbreaks worldwide.

0:15:34.035,0:15:38.057
Where they disagree: when does immunity fail?

0:15:41.006,0:15:45.029
Dr. Mooi believes the new strain of Pertussis causes immunity

0:15:45.029,0:15:47.039
to fail sooner than in the past.

0:15:47.039,0:15:49.017
And he's published his findings

0:15:49.017,0:15:52.050
in several peer reviewed journals including the CDC's

0:15:52.050,0:15:54.000
Infectious Diseases.

0:15:54.000,0:15:59.027
MOOI: When the immunity is sub-optimal what will happen the

0:15:59.027,0:16:04.029
bacteria will not be recognized very well by the immune system

0:16:04.029,0:16:08.033
because of the mismatch and second of all even

0:16:08.033,0:16:10.071
if immune response is started

0:16:10.071,0:16:14.074
in the body the toxin will be able to delay it.

0:16:14.074,0:16:19.091
You could say these two changes work together

0:16:19.091,0:16:22.046
by decreasing the period

0:16:22.046,0:16:25.083
of which the vaccine is protective further.

0:16:25.083,0:16:27.089
FARYON: The Netherlands learned something else

0:16:27.089,0:16:30.035
after its 1996 epidemic.

0:16:30.035,0:16:33.032
At the time, it had very few samples of the bacteria

0:16:33.032,0:16:35.085
that was causing people to get sick.

0:16:35.085,0:16:38.078
So Mooi's lab began asking doctors and their labs

0:16:38.078,0:16:41.046
to send him positive Pertussis swabs.

0:16:41.046,0:16:44.070
His lab now has 3,000 samples.

0:16:44.070,0:16:47.091
California has collected just 29 samples from the more

0:16:47.091,0:16:51.054
than 7,000 whooping cough cases in the state.

0:16:51.054,0:16:55.008
During the KPBS/Watchdog four month investigation,

0:16:55.008,0:16:57.016
we also learned data kept by the state

0:16:57.016,0:17:00.088
and the CDC was often lagging behind county data

0:17:00.088,0:17:02.070
and was inconsistent.

0:17:02.070,0:17:05.085
While counties like San Diego knew the immunization status

0:17:05.085,0:17:08.053
of the vast majority of people with whooping cough,

0:17:08.053,0:17:11.076
the state's data listed the information as unknown.

0:17:11.076,0:17:15.018
Despite statewide protocols for reporting pertussis,

0:17:15.018,0:17:19.023
a KPBS/Watchdog survey found some counties don't follow them

0:17:19.023,0:17:22.014
or are slow to report the information HORTON:

0:17:22.014,0:17:24.093
There's a perception that the more numbers the better,

0:17:24.093,0:17:30.046
but let me be very clear we in no way need reports

0:17:30.046,0:17:33.004
on every single case of pertussis for us

0:17:33.004,0:17:37.003
to make important judgments and decisions

0:17:37.003,0:17:38.032
about what's happening.

0:17:38.032,0:17:41.049
FARYON: The CDC in Atlanta declined our requests

0:17:41.049,0:17:42.056
for an interview.

0:17:42.056,0:17:45.048
In an email response they said it is "difficult

0:17:45.048,0:17:49.038
to disentangle all the factors" contributing to increases

0:17:49.038,0:17:52.086
in pertussis, but listed "increasing transmission,

0:17:52.086,0:17:54.035
better recognition,

0:17:54.035,0:17:57.029
and increased laboratory confirmation."

0:17:57.029,0:18:00.029
We also asked whether a new more virulent strain could be

0:18:00.029,0:18:02.005
contributing to the outbreak.

0:18:02.005,0:18:05.078
The CDC's response: "Available data do not suggest

0:18:05.078,0:18:08.034
that ptxP3 is more virulent,

0:18:08.034,0:18:11.042
or that increasing reports are attributable only

0:18:11.042,0:18:14.026
to the emergence of ptxP3.

0:18:14.026,0:18:18.035
We continue to work on this and other potential explanations

0:18:18.035,0:18:20.046
for the increase in pertussis

0:18:20.046,0:18:23.077
that has occurred since the 1980s."

0:18:23.077,0:18:26.094
The CDC sent us this study by their own investigators.

0:18:26.094,0:18:28.018
The study looked at children

0:18:28.018,0:18:30.095
between 6 months and five years old.

0:18:30.095,0:18:33.007
It found pertussis vaccines to be more

0:18:33.007,0:18:35.024
than 90 percent effective.

0:18:35.024,0:18:39.059
The study looked at data between 1998 and 2001.

0:18:39.059,0:18:42.071
It did not collect pertussis strain information.

0:18:42.071,0:18:46.084
SINGING: Do you happen to know what a T-dap is?

0:18:46.084,0:18:51.082
It's a special vaccine but it's not just for kids.

0:18:53.025,0:18:55.094
FARYON: Sanofi Pastuer, one of two companies

0:18:55.094,0:18:59.035
that make the vaccine widely used in the U.S.,

0:18:59.035,0:19:02.032
sponsored this singing competition earlier this year.

0:19:02.032,0:19:07.006
SINGING: Pertussis is the reason why you should call your

0:19:07.006,0:19:09.000
doctor today.

0:19:09.000,0:19:11.041
FARYON: It was a public relations exercise

0:19:11.041,0:19:15.003
to get the word out about whooping cough and immunization.

0:19:15.003,0:19:18.031
But just where is the line between good PR and trying

0:19:18.031,0:19:20.075
to influence public health policy?

0:19:20.075,0:19:23.099
SINGING: Take a shot and give pertussis a whooping.

0:19:23.099,0:19:28.070
FARYON: Especially when public health policy can increase

0:19:28.070,0:19:30.014
vaccine sales.

0:19:30.014,0:19:33.003
Since 2007, the California department

0:19:33.003,0:19:36.002
of health has spent more than $200 million

0:19:36.002,0:19:39.043
on pertussis vaccines for children on medical

0:19:39.043,0:19:41.005
or who are under-insured.

0:19:41.005,0:19:43.050
And it's sure to rise.

0:19:43.050,0:19:47.083
In September, the California state legislature passed a law

0:19:47.083,0:19:50.080
requiring all students to receive another dose,

0:19:50.080,0:19:54.020
a sixth dose of the pertussis vaccine before entering

0:19:54.020,0:19:55.035
middle school.

0:19:55.035,0:19:57.010
It may be a case of what's good

0:19:57.010,0:19:59.084
for business is also good for public health.

0:19:59.084,0:20:02.033
But how much influence does industry have

0:20:02.033,0:20:04.015
over public health policy?

0:20:04.015,0:20:06.047
Sanofi Pasteur also established

0:20:06.047,0:20:09.039
and funds The Global Pertussis Initiative.

0:20:09.039,0:20:13.033
A group made up of medical experts from around the world.

0:20:13.033,0:20:15.072
The GPI was established 10 years ago

0:20:15.072,0:20:19.098
to study why pertussis was making a comeback and find ways

0:20:19.098,0:20:21.054
to control the disease.

0:20:21.054,0:20:23.033
More than half its members are employees

0:20:23.033,0:20:25.004
of the pharmaceutical company

0:20:25.004,0:20:28.017
or receive research money or consulting fees.

0:20:28.017,0:20:31.046
Public officials from across the country, including California

0:20:31.046,0:20:34.088
and the CDC, site the Global Pertussis Initiative

0:20:34.088,0:20:37.021
when making vaccine policy.

0:20:37.021,0:20:40.014
Dr. James Cherry is a member of the initiative.

0:20:40.014,0:20:43.024
He's also received speaking fees and research funds

0:20:43.024,0:20:45.031
from vaccine manufacturers.

0:20:45.031,0:20:48.007
At the same time, he sat on government committees

0:20:48.007,0:20:51.042
to help determine vaccine policy and efficacy.

0:20:51.042,0:20:56.045
FARYON: A cynic might say that if you have a community

0:20:56.045,0:21:01.025
of experts in pertussis as in the Global Pertussis Initiative,

0:21:01.025,0:21:03.094
who primarily their work in terms

0:21:03.094,0:21:06.036
of this endeavor is being funded by the drug company

0:21:06.036,0:21:10.011
that makes the vaccine, there might be less incentive

0:21:10.011,0:21:13.080
to say make a new vaccine and more incentive

0:21:13.080,0:21:16.041
to say just use the old one more often.

0:21:16.041,0:21:17.083
What do you say to them?

0:21:17.083,0:21:19.092
CHERRY: I don't think that's true.

0:21:19.092,0:21:25.050
I think that we've been talking about new vaccines.

0:21:25.050,0:21:32.049
It think the difficulty with the new vaccine lies in the expense

0:21:32.049,0:21:39.042
that it would cost to make a new vaccine and the difficulty

0:21:39.042,0:21:46.003
in testing it because of FDA requirements for it and I think

0:21:46.003,0:21:48.088
if the climate was right for either of two

0:21:48.088,0:21:52.026
of the major manufacturers they would do it.

0:21:52.026,0:21:55.048
MOOI: And these are three different pertussis strains.

0:21:55.048,0:21:59.022
FARYON: Dr. Mooi is a critic of the Pertussis Initiative.

0:21:59.022,0:22:04.063
MOOI: My big disappointment is they have totally

0:22:04.063,0:22:09.008
and I think willfully ignored pathogen adaptation.

0:22:09.008,0:22:15.050
I think a few years ago we had the year

0:22:15.050,0:22:21.010
that Darwin died 100 year ago, it was not so long ago,

0:22:21.010,0:22:25.046
I think it's very strange that evolution

0:22:25.046,0:22:29.018
and pathogen adaptation is completely ignored

0:22:29.018,0:22:30.020
by such a group.

0:22:30.020,0:22:35.005
I find that bad for science and bad for public health.

0:22:35.005,0:22:38.014
FARYON: Sanofi Pasteur released this statement to KPBS

0:22:38.014,0:22:40.030
and the Watchdog Institute.

0:22:40.030,0:22:44.015
It says its grant to the GPI brings the world's authorities

0:22:44.015,0:22:48.050
on pertussis together and that benefits society as a whole.

0:22:48.050,0:22:50.093
The company also says "at the present time,

0:22:50.093,0:22:54.085
there is no evidence to suggest current pertussis vaccines

0:22:54.085,0:22:56.079
lack effectiveness."

0:22:56.079,0:23:00.064
Dr. Dean Sidelinger was one of the first health officials

0:23:00.064,0:23:03.076
to learn immunized people were getting sick in his county.

0:23:03.076,0:23:06.077
He said he was surprised, but in the end,

0:23:06.077,0:23:10.075
he says the current vaccine is still the best thing he's got

0:23:10.075,0:23:12.027
to protect his community.

0:23:12.027,0:23:14.008
SIDELINGER: It does significantly decrease the

0:23:14.008,0:23:17.000
pertussis we see a significantly lower number

0:23:17.000,0:23:20.019
of pertussis cases now then we saw before we started using

0:23:20.019,0:23:21.027
the vaccine.

0:23:21.027,0:23:25.004
So we don't want people to feel complacent or to say I don't want

0:23:25.004,0:23:27.033
that vaccine because I've seen many of the cases

0:23:27.033,0:23:29.080
that have been reported were fully vaccinated.

0:23:29.080,0:23:32.043
FARYON: Sidelinger says there would be many more cases

0:23:32.043,0:23:34.070
if there was no vaccine at all.

0:23:34.070,0:23:36.003
Dr. Mooi agrees.

0:23:36.003,0:23:38.096
He believes public health officials should be encouraging

0:23:38.096,0:23:43.050
cocooning, immunizing all those around newborn babies.

0:23:43.050,0:23:48.094
But in the long run he says, we need better vaccines.

0:23:48.094,0:23:51.079
Baby Matthew spent four days in the hospital

0:23:51.079,0:23:54.025
and was eventually discharged.

0:23:54.025,0:23:57.040
Today, he's getting his two-month routine check-up.

0:23:57.040,0:24:00.009
DOCTOR: I think it was just bad luck he's had two illnesses

0:24:00.009,0:24:04.050
in a row and now the cold he's building up his immunity.

0:24:04.050,0:24:08.016
FARYON: Despite a stuffy nose, Matthew is doing well today.

0:24:08.016,0:24:11.026
DCOTOR: As you might know the vaccine is not

0:24:11.026,0:24:13.016
as effective as we want it to be.

0:24:13.016,0:24:17.021
And that's one reason why there've been a lot of cases going around.

0:24:17.021,0:24:21.052
But with Matthew in particular, his own immunity has kicked in

0:24:21.052,0:24:24.069
from having the illness, that is, in effect a sort

0:24:24.069,0:24:27.051
of a booster that will protect him going forward.

0:24:27.051,0:24:31.032
And how long that immunity lasts is still a question.

0:24:31.071,0:24:34.093
MARLON: The one thing I would want to say to parents is just ...

0:24:36.056,0:24:39.034
is just watch your kids ...

0:24:39.040,0:24:40.076
just be ...

0:24:45.000,0:24:47.038
just be concerned.

0:24:47.038,0:24:50.070
Because at first we thought we were being over protective.

0:24:51.062,0:24:57.035
But I'm glad we were just a little bit over-concerned.

0:24:57.035,0:25:00.091
FARYON: Since KPBS and the Watchdog Institute began its

0:25:00.091,0:25:04.053
investigation, state health officials, the CDC

0:25:04.053,0:25:08.016
and scientists from UCLA, including Dr. James Cherry,

0:25:08.016,0:25:11.058
began a new study to determine whether the new strain

0:25:11.058,0:25:13.045
of pertussis is contributing

0:25:13.045,0:25:15.099
to the current whooping cough outbreak.

0:25:15.099,0:25:18.060
For more on this story, and to see more of the data collected

0:25:18.060,0:25:24.036
in our investigation, go to kpbs.org/whoopingcough

0:25:24.036,0:25:27.075
and watchdoginstitute.org.

0:25:27.075,0:25:30.021
For KPBS, the Watchdog Institute

0:25:30.021,0:25:33.041
and Radio Netherlands Worldwide, I'm Joanne Faryon.

0:25:33.041,0:25:35.091
Thanks for watching.