Topic: Has whooping cough evolved around the vaccine? An immunologist's take.

[kill3rTcell]

Hey SGUers.

You might remember on Science or Fiction a fortnight back one of the options was regarding a 'new' variant of the whooping cough bacterium, Bordetella pertussis, having mutated around the vaccine:

"A new study finds that the whooping cough epidemic currently occurring in Australia is mostly due to a new strain of B. pertussis which is not well covered by the vaccine"

Well it turns out that the interpreation of the research in the description in Science or Fiction isn't correct. Maybe Jay could call for a do-over?

Anyway, here's the result of my fortnight of reading over the whooping cough literature. Any feedback is appreciated, my aim is to make complex topics in immunology as approachable to the general public as possible.

http://lymphosite.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/b_pertussis/

[seaotter]

So the bottom line is that this new strain is more dangerous, and so it's even more important to get the vaccine and boosters? Oh and Meryl is an idiot!

[kill3rTcell]

Well, that it's probably more dangerous, and the available evidence suggests that the vaccine isn't significantly less effective against this 'new' variant.

What's funnier is that of late Dorey has been spruiking in her blog posts about all the science there is to back up what she's saying, and yet she keeps coming out with absolute pearlers of quotes that show she hasn't even read the studies she's citing. Such as this one from yesterday, regarding that ineffective 'flu vaccine!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=394990847191366&set=o.143367983587&type=1

Just ridiculous.