FDA approves whooping cough vaccine for adults

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given drug company Sanofi-Aventis approval to sell Adacel, a vaccine against whooping cough for people ages 11 to 64.

The FDA says that Adacel will be the first shot approved to boost immunity against whooping cough in adults. Adacel combines a whooping cough vaccine with routine tetanus and diphtheria booster shots.

Although whooping cough vaccines are routine for U.S. children, many experts believe immunity to the disease wanes by adolescence, and they hope that the booster shots for teenagers and adults will reduce infections in those age groups and stop the disease spreading to infants, for whom whooping cough can be a killer.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection marked by severe coughing spells and a "whoop" sound when patients inhale.

The FDA also approved GlaxoSmithKline's whooping cough booster shot, Boostrix, in May for people ages 10 to 19.