Pertussis Vaccination

Given the rapid ageing of the world’s population and with the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing in motion, now is the time to prioritize and drive action towards the maintenance and improvement of the health and functional ability of older people. Life in later years can often be dominated by poor health, social isolation, and dependency on care which can have several significant negative consequences for older adults and society, adding further stress to an over-burdened health care system and decreasing the quality and years of life for older people around the world.

While infant and childhood pertussis vaccination programmes are often prioritized over older adult pertussis programs, there is increasing incidence of pertussis among adults, especially those who are aged 65 years and over.  Older people are at higher risk for adverse health outcomes and can become a source of transmission upon infection.  Since the immunity elicited by childhood vaccinations can wane over time and fail to provide life-long protection, there has been a global resurgence of pertussis in all populations. The absence of reliable data, as well as the general lack of knowledge of the disease has become a major hindrance towards improving uptake rates of pertussis vaccination.  There is a need for greater awareness of the benefit of vaccinations through targeted public health messages among older people and health care professionals.  More importantly, it is imperative to make the case for adult pertussis vaccination programs to be included within national health plans.

In April 2022, the International Federation on Ageing conducted research to gather data on the regulatory processes, the pathway for vaccine recommendations and the funding of adult pertussis vaccines across five countries (Brazil, India, Spain, Vietnam, and Mexico) with the aim of identifying the status of adult pertussis vaccination within associated national vaccine programs.  Study findings illustrated that while each country faces unique challenges, there are overarching similarities that can be leveraged to help address and inform the inclusion of adult pertussis vaccination within national programs.