Whooping cough on verge of being ‘superbug’, studies show

More effective vaccine needed as bacteria evolve and adapt

Australia needs to develop a new whooping cough vaccine as the contagious respiratory disease appears to be “morphing into a superbug”, according to research by the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

Several studies by UNSW medical scientists have shown that whooping cough bacteria are increasingly adapting to vaccines and surviving. The findings from the university’s most recent study are published online in the journal Vaccine.