WEDNESDAY, Oct. 24 (HealthDay News) -- All pregnant women should
be vaccinated against whooping cough, preferably in their last
trimester, a panel of U.S. advisers recommended Wednesday.
Getting vaccinated during pregnancy means a mother can pass
immunity to whooping cough to her baby, the U.S. government
panel explained. Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a
highly contagious bacterial disease that attacks the respiratory
system. The recommendation comes at a time when the United
States is on track to record the highest number of whooping
cough cases since 1959, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. So far, more than 32,000 cases
have been reported and 16 people have died, most of them
infants. Of the infants who get pertussis, 30 percent to 40
percent get it from their mothers, and more than half need to be
hospitalized. Of those hospitalized, one in five gets pneumonia
and one in 100 dies, according to the CDC. "This is a very good
idea," said Dr. Marc Siegel, an associa