The vaccine to protect against whooping cough works well at first, but immunity drops off quickly, making it more important for babies to get inoculated when they're most vulnerable, Canadian doctors say. Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a bacterial infection most commonly spread through coughing or sneezing. Similarly, in England, there were three deaths in infants with whooping cough confirmed in 2013, compared with 14 deaths in 2012's outbreak. Until newer vaccines with longer lasting protection are available, the editorial called for a rethinking of the current pertussis vaccine schedule. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario.

Source: CBC News September 26, 2016 15:56 UTC