> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Early Pertussis vaccination may boost mortality in low-birth weight babies - URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/pertussis_vaccine_low_weight_babies_0830120728/ - Published: 2012-08-30T08:26:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T16:05:06.000Z - Description: Among 2,320 low birth weight newborns, girls given early diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine were 2.45 times as likely as unvaccinated girls to die within six months, rising to 5.68 times after adjustment for nutritional status, while vaccinated boys appeared to fare better. - Author: Food Consumer - Tags: Drug, Health News, #vivvo-import BY David Liu, PHD Thursday Aug 30, 2012 ([foodconsumer.org](http://www.foodconsumer.org/)) -- Early diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination intended to prevent whoopping cough may increase risk of death in baby girls who were born with low birth weight, according to a study published online on Feb 13, 2012 in Archives of Disease in Childhood. The study led by Peter Aaby of Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen S, Denmark and colleagues found low birth weight baby girls who received early diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination were greater than 5 times as likely as those who did not receive the vaccine to die within six months of birth. For the study, 2320 low birth weight newborns were visited at 2, 6 and 12 months of age to assess their nutritional and vaccination status. The 6-month survival rate was examined in those who received diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine and those who did not receive the vaccine. Two thirds of the babies received the vaccine at two months and 50 deaths were recorded between the 2-month visit and the 6-month visit. Without adjustment for other factors, girls receiving the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine were 2.45 times as likely as girls who did not receive the vaccine to die. And in vaccinated boys, the death risk seemed to be reduced by 47 percent, compared to the unvaccinated. After adjustment for small mid-upper arm circumference, which was the strongest predictor of mortality, the vaccinated children were 2.62 times as likely as those unvaccinated to die in the first six months. The death risk was increased by 5.68 times in girls and 1.29 times in boys. The researchers concluded "even though the children with the best nutritional status were vaccinated early, early diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination was associated with increased mortality in girls." This is not the first study to associate diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination with increased mortality. The researchers of the current study cited studies by other researchers that demonstrated increased risk of death in girls receiving DTP. The authors in early studies consistently found the negative effect fro diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine for girls in Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, Sudan, Congo and Malawi. In another study published in the Jan-March issue of Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Mahendra K. Patel of Government Medical College, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India and colleagues reported that "A 5-month-old male patient developed recurrent seizures and acute encephalopathy possibly due to first dose of diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus (DPT) vaccine used for routine immunization." A safer version of DTP called DTaP is still being used in the United States to prevent diphtheria, tanus, and pertussis. But this increased death risk in girls who received the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine was not widely known by the public. Pertussis or whooping cough has drawn a great deal of media attention recently. The condition is caused by a bacterial infection and can be treated with antibiotics. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the best way to prevent the condition is to use a pertussis vaccine. But the efficacy of this vaccine is seriously in doubt. In an article published recently in the journal Pediatrics, Dr. James D. Cherry of the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California says that the pertussis vaccine efficacy was significantly inflated, largely due to the use of the case definition adopted by the World Health Organization. By this definition, a case could be counted only after laboratory confirmation and 21 days or more of paroxysmal cough. This definition leaves many mild pertussis cases uncounted and the efficacy of the vaccine is inflated. Another reason for the inflated efficacy is that many vaccine trial researchers did not practice due diligence to record the mild pertussis cases, which further inflate the efficacy. Dr, Cherry says the actual efficacy in some trials could be as low as 40 percent instead of 90 or 80 percent. Even worse, the pertussis may potentially cause the spreading of pertussis. Dr. Joe Mercola, a physician who promotes natural health, says in an article released recently in his newsletter that in the 2010 California pertussis outbreak in which thousands of people suffered pertussis and a dozen of them died, 81 percent of the cases in people under the age of 18 actually occurred in those who were fully up to date on the pertussis vaccine, and 11 percent received at least one shot, and only 8 percent of those who were hit by the bacterial infection were UN-VACCINATED. Pertussis is caused by a bacterial infection and can be treated with antibiotics. It has been proved that vitamin D can strengthen innate immunity against bacterial and viral infection by promoting the production of an antimicrobial peptide called cathelicidin. Although vitamin D has not been studied in trials to demonstrate directly that it is effective in preventing pertussis, it is possible that the sunshine vitamin may help prevent at least certain percentage of pertussis cases. The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Institute of Medicine recommends that infants aged from 0 to 12 months use 400 IU per day to help bone health. Dr. John Cannell, director of Vitamin D Council suggests that infants can use vitamin D supplements such as a vitamin D drop at a much high level.