Vaccine Failures, Part 2: Pertussis Vaccination

Nationally, pertussis-containing vaccine coverage is high—just shy of 95%—yet, by the CDC’s own admission, pertussis outbreaks are increasingly frequent. Given the high vaccination rate and the known fact that vaccinated persons can transmit pertussis asymptomatically, it is important to dissect the spectacular failure of U.S. pertussis vaccination efforts in greater detail.