CHAMPAIGN — A combination vaccine for tetanus, diptheria and pertussis that's now approved for older adults may not just offer extra protection for Grandma and Grandpa.

It could also help them protect their infant grandchildren from pertussis, or whooping cough, say two local health professionals.

The vaccine, Boostrix, has already been available for adolescents, teens and adults up to age 64.

But for adults 65 and older, there were vaccines approved for only two of the three diseases — tetanus and diptheria — until the Food and Drug Administration approved Boostrix for that older age group late last week.

Whooping cough, a disease that has been on the rise for the past several years, is a highly contageous bacterial infection that causes uncontrollable coughing.

The elderly living in communal settings, such as nursing homes, can be very vulnerable to outbreaks and more weakened by the disease if they have other health complications, according to Dr. Nazneen Hashmi, a geriatric medicine specialist at Carle.

Hashmi said she'll recommend that her older patients get this vaccine, not only for their own protection, but for the protection of infants they may come into contact with in their own families and out in the community, she said.

"Also, in our state, I think the diagnosis is not made all the time. It's taken as a viral infection, so I don't know how much we're missing," she said.

Infants need this vaccine protection from their families, grandparents and the rest of the community because whooping cough is potentially deadly to them, and they can't get their first combination DTaP vaccination (diptheria, tetanus and pertussis) until they're two months old.

"They have zero immunity," said Jamie Perry, nursing services manager for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. It's better for older adults to get this vaccine, she advised.

In fact, the vaccine has already been available to adults 65 and older off-label, and the health district has already had requests from doctors for it for older patients traveling to states with large whooping-cough outbreaks last year — California, Michigan and Ohio, she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 9,477 cases of whooping cough in California last year, the most cases reported in 65 years. The 2010 outbreak included 10 infant deaths.

"They were demanding that anyone that was going to be around babies be immunized," Perry said.

Patients will likely be advised to get this vaccine when they come in for a tetanus booster shot, Perry and Hashmi said.

Boostrix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was approved in 2005 for adolescents ages 10-18, and in 2008 for adults ages 19-64. The safety and effectiveness for people age 65 and older was based on a study of about 1,300 people, according to the FDA.