Vaccination of uninsured close contacts of newborn infants at Prentice with Tdap vaccine (adolescent and adult acellular pertussis vaccine) as part of a cocoon strategy to protect newborn infants against pertussis disease

Pertussis (whooping cough) remains a major public health problem in persons of all ages with young infants being at the greatest risk for disease complications and death. Adolescent and adult close contacts of these young infants serve as the major source of pertussis transmission. To protect these young infants, the CDC strongly recommends Tdap (adolescent adult acellular pertussis vaccine) vaccination of all adolescent and adult close contats in order to "cocoon" the infant. In response to the CDC recommendations, Prentice established a program of postpartum Tdap vaccination in 2008 and a contact vaccination program for fathers and close contacts in 2010. The vaccine is covered by most major insurance companies or can be paid for with cash or credit. However, due to financial issues, uninsured fathers and close contacts are not receiving this vaccine. This is a major gap in the service being provided. This places the infants of these individuals at increased risk for contracting pertussis. The aim of this project is to provide Tdap vaccine for those uninsured contacts of infants born at Prentice in order to optimize the "cocoon strategy".