CDC Advisory Panel Adjusts Whooping Cough Guidance

On Wednesday, CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that adults ages 65 and older -- as well as adolescents and other adults whose vaccine history is not known -- receive the Tdap shot to protect against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, or whooping cough. So far this year in California, more than 6,000 individuals have been infected with whooping cough and 10 infants have died from the disease.

• "Senior Citizens Should Be Immunized for Whooping Cough, Federal Panel Says" (Lin, "L.A. Now," Los Angeles Times, 10/27).
• "Vaccine Panel Expands Whooping Cough Coverage" (Steenhuysen, Reuters, 10/27).