Abstract
THE Original Article in this issue of Pediatrics by Byers and Moll on encephalopathies following prophylactic pertussis vaccine will be a cause of the gravest concern to all pediatricians. While the authors are reserved in expressing an opinion as to the mechanisms responsible for the sequelae of pertussis vaccination which they describe, it is a matter of the most urgent importance that these be sought and made the basis for practical changes and improvements designed to minimize dangers which now clearly emerge, curiously enough fifteen years or so after active immunization against pertussis began to be used on a large scale in this country. At the same time, it should be pointed out that incontrovertible evidence is now at hand of the effectiveness of pertussis vaccine in preventing a disease which in the first two years of life has a very high fatality rate. While complete answers to the problems raised by the paper of Byers and Moll cannot be given at the present time, it is pertinent to consider possible causes for the reactions they report and lines along which precautionary measures might profitably be directed.
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