CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. has boosted supplies of the pertussis booster vaccine Tdap at its 140 drug stores in Washington after the state’s health department reported "epidemic" levels of whooping cough.
The drug chain said Tuesday that Washington has seen 640 cases of whooping cough so far in 2012, nearly seven times the number of cases from the same three-month period in 2011.
"Rite Aid pharmacists stand ready to give parents and caretakers help shielding their children against this dangerous disease," Nirmal Singh, pharmacy vice president for the Rite Aid region including Washington, said in a statement. "A quick trip to the neighborhood Rite Aid can help protect loved ones for years to come."
Rite Aid pharmacists in Washington state can vaccinate patients ages 3 and older against whooping cough.
Although young children typically get the pertussis vaccination from their primary health care providers as part of a regular vaccine schedule, immunization levels drop over time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a whooping cough booster for everyone 11 and older. The booster is also recommended for patients as young as 7 if any of the five regularly scheduled childhood whooping cough vaccines were missed.
