1970s–1980s Pertussis Vaccine Scares in the UK and Japan
In the mid‑1970s, fears about side effects from whole‑cell pertussis (whooping cough) vaccines led Japan to temporarily suspend infant DPT vaccination and then delay the first dose until age two, while coverage in the United Kingdom fell from around 80% to roughly 30%. Subsequent years saw major pertussis epidemics: in Japan, reported cases surged from a few hundred to more than 13,000 with dozens of infant deaths, and in England and Wales large outbreaks in 1978–79 and the early 1980s produced tens of thousands of cases and multiple deaths.
Public confidence collapsed, disease returned on a large scale, and many children were hospitalized or died from a once‑declining illness.
Countries eventually restored trust through better safety monitoring and by switching to acellular pertussis vaccines, but only after preventable epidemics underscored the cost of reduced coverage.
The pertussis experience shows how even temporary or partial retreats from established childhood vaccine policies—particularly when driven by safety fears amplified in politics and media—can produce deadly outbreaks that are difficult and slow to reverse. It offers a cautionary analogue for today’s U.S. shifts on hepatitis B and other vaccines.