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Jan 1, 1500
First Outbreak
In the 16th Century, Whooping Cough had its first outbreak. -
Discovery
Whooping Cough was discovered in 1906 by 2 French scientists, Jules Bordet and Octave Gengou. -
First Vaccine Developed
Dr. Louis S. Sauer developed a vaccine at Evanstion Hospital in Illinois. -
Pre-vaccine Era
Whooping Cough Sounds In early 1920"s-1930"s there was over 250,000 cases of whooping cough per year in the U.S with up to 9,000 deaths. -
First Whole-cell Pertussis Vaccine Tested on Wide Scale
Physician Thorvald Madsen tested a whole-cell pertussis vaccine on a wide scale for the first time ever. -
First DPT Vaccine
Scientist Pearl Kendrick used the whole-cell pertussis vaccine with Diphtheria and Tetanus toxoids to create the first DPT vaccine. -
Controversy
In the 1970s and 1980s there was a lot of controversy towards the DPT vaccine relating to the question of whether or not it caused permanent brain damage. -
Decline of Whooping Cough
There was a massive decline of whooping cough in the U.S by over 99% -
Epidemics
Whooping cough started to increase steadily, with epidemis typically occuring every 3 to 5 years in the U.S -
Lawsuits
Due to lawsuits of the unscientific claims about the DPT vaccine in the 1980's, it led to many manufacturers to stop making the vaccine. -
Creation of DTaP Vaccine
Japanese scientist Yugi Sato created an acellular pertussis vaccine which contained purified haemagglutinins, causing red blood cels to join together. The vaccine was first used in Japan since 1981. It was later used in other countries as an additional component of B. Pertussis and was usually added to the DTaP vaccine. -
"DPT: Vaccine Roulette"
In 1982 negative publicity was encouraged from a documentary called "DPT: Vaccine Roulette", which led to a massive amount of lawsuits against the vaccine manufacturers. -
Liability
By 1985 DPT vaccine manufacturers had a hard time obtaining liability insurance. By the end of 1985, only one DPT manufacturer remained. -
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act
In 1986 Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA). In hopes to avert the vaccine crisis. It was made to establish a federal no-fault system to compensate to those hurt by the vaccine. -
"Myth" and "Nonsense"
Later studies showed that their was no connection between the DPT vaccine and the permanent brain damage. It was in fact called a "Myth" and "Nonsence" by the Journal of American Medical Association in 1990. -
Approved
The acellular pertussis vaccine was approved by the U.S in 1992, to use in the DTaP vaccine combination. -
Under Vaccination
