Spokane Regional Health Dist. Pertussis vaccine is not recommended for anyone over the age of 7 years. A healthy individual over 7 years of age is thought to be mature enough to handle pertussis without the serious complications that would be seen in an infant.
Adults often become infected with pertussis.
The illness tends to be cold-like, and relatively mild in its symptoms. As a result, adults don't get tested or treated and can spread pertussis to other adults and children. The pertussis vaccine is not completely effective in preventing pertussis. Pertussis vaccine will prevent serious complications due to pertussis infection and reduce the severity of the illness. It takes significant exposure to an infected individual to become infected.