About 50 thousand people developed diphtheria before efforts to immunize everyone got the epidemic under control. It was a terribly sad way to remind the world of the importance of diphtheria vaccine. We will never be rid of tetanus because it lives as very tough spores in the soil and the bowels of animals worldwide. The bacteria start producing a poison that causes muscle spasms so powerful they can lead to broken bones. Of course, we depend on muscles for breathing and swallowing, too, so if these muscles go into spasm, intensive care life support systems are necessary.
Tetanus disease is rare now in the U.S. because of vigilant use of the vaccine.
Pertussis Pertussis is called whooping cough. The infection causes the airway to swell in such a way that infants and young children make a whooping noise when they are trying to get air in after coughing spasms. The coughing jags may be frequent and prolonged and may lead to vomiting, so the child becomes exhausted and has difficulty eating or drinking. A third of children with this complication die, a third develop permanent brain damage, and a third survive without obvious nervous system damage. Even though pertussis is a terrible disease for infants and young children, a lot of parents used to refuse the vaccine because it was associated with side effects.