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Increasing The Number Of Adults In Utah County Who Receive The Pertussis Vaccine Through Proper Education, Sarah Jones, Beth Luthy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease that has plagued our nation for many years. Since the vaccine’s creation in 1945, rates of pertussis thankfully decreased overall. However, in recent years, due to the decrease in the number of vaccinated individuals, especially adults, pertussis cases have drastically increased, rising by 500% since 2002 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012). For the first time since 1955, the United States has had more than 40,000 cases of pertussis in a single year (CDC, 2012). Even more startling, however, is the fact that Utah County had 76.6 cases per 100,000 people, compared to …