AN OLD enemy is back. Despite widespread vaccination, cases of whooping cough are on the rise in western countries as immunity to the vaccine wears off during childhood. A team at the University of Oxford reported last week that 40 per cent of local children aged around 10 with a chronic cough in fact had whooping cough.
If they pass it to siblings younger than six months the babies may die because they are too young to be immunised with the existing vaccine, which is made from bacterial protein.
Babies will, however, mount a strong immune response to the whole…
