ver the past year, the Food and Drug Administration, the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices and the American Academy of Pediatrics have approved new vaccinations for children to protect them against whooping cough (pertussis) and meningitis.

Dr. Jane Siegel, an infectious diseases specialist on the medical staff at Children’s Medical Center, says the new vaccines not only provide protection for children but for the population as a whole.

“These immunizations benefit both the people who receive them and the vulnerable, unvaccinated people around them, because the infection can no longer spread,” says Dr. Siegel, also chairman of the hospital’s Infection Control Committee.

On June 10, a new vaccine for a single immunization against whooping cough, in combination with tetanus and diphtheria, was approved for adolescents and adults ages 11 to 64.

The vaccine is the most recent effort to bring a disease once believed to be on the brink of elimination back under control. Whooping cough mainly affects infants and young children and caused thousands of deaths in the 1930s and 1940s. Whooping cough is a highly communicable and a potentially serious illness in adolescents and adults, and can cause prolonged cough and missed days at school and work. In young infants, whooping cough is more frequently severe and can be fatal, particularly in those too young to be fully vaccinated.

With the advent of the initial pertussis vaccine (DTaP series), which is administered to infants, the rate of infection declined dramatically. However, since the 1980s, the disease has been steadily reappearing all across the country.

Dr. Siegel says the disease is re-emerging mostly because it continues to flourish in adults — even though children are vaccinated. Children’s treated 41 cases of whooping cough from January to March 2005. Cases of the disease seen at Children’s in recent years are on track with national trends. Children’s treated 51 cases in 2002, 62 cases in 2003 and 131 cases in 2004.

The new vaccine will be administered as a booster shot to adolescents ages 10 to 18 to increase the overall immunity of the population and to prevent older people from passing the disease to children, Dr. Siegel says.

“The new pertussis vaccine is not meant to replace the original vaccine (DTaP), which is given to infants,” Dr. Siegel says. “The booster will help combat pertussis on a new front, and the disease reservoir in adults will gradually decrease. Over time, we’ll see fewer and fewer adolescents and adults passing the disease to infants.”

In January 2005, a “conjugate” meningococcal vaccine, which is a new form of the existing vaccine, was licensed for use in the United States by the FDA. The new vaccine, Menactra^TM, is intended for active immunization against invasive meningococcal disease in persons ages 11 to 55.

The ACIP recommends that children receive the vaccination, along with their other immunizations and preventive services, at their pre-adolescent visit, which should take place at age 11 or 12.

Dr. Siegel says the new vaccine is highly effective against meningitis caused by types A, C, Y and the W-135 bacteria. However, it does not protect against type B bacteria, which causes a third of meningococcal cases.

The most common adverse reactions to Menactra include pain and redness at the injection site, headache, fatigue and malaise. Vaccination should be avoided by people with known hypersensitivity or severe allergies to any component of the vaccine.

Meningococcal disease is caused by bacteria that infect the bloodstream and the linings of the brain and spinal cord, causing serious illness. The disease often begins with symptoms that can be mistaken for common illness, such as the flu. Meningitis is particularly dangerous because it progresses rapidly and can kill within hours.