Sanofi Gets Jennifer Lopez to Hawk Pentacell Pertussis Vaccine

(MoneyWatch)  Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines unit of Sanofi-Aventis, has persuaded singer Jennifer Lopez to become its joint spokesperson with the March of Dimes' "the Sounds of Pertussis," campaign. (There's even a video, in which Lopez looks strangely like Law & Order's Mariska Hargitay.)

The effort is to persuade parents to get their kids* vaccinated against whooping cough, which can be fatal if they transmit it to their babies.

By amazing coincidence, Sanofi makes vaccines for pertussis, such as Adacel for adults and Pentacel for kids.

Lopez said:

I didn't know too much about it before becoming a parent but whooping cough is on the rise. There have been a significant increase in reported cases over the past decade.

Cases of pertussis have gone from about 1,000 in 1976 to more than 25,000 in 2005, according to the CDC (via ABC).

On the other side of this issue is Jim Carrey, who recently wrote a lengthy anti-vaccines screed on Huffington Post:

... surely there's a limit as to how many viruses and toxins can be introduced into the body of a small child.

I'm not saying that anti-vaccine paranoia has increased cases of whooping cough in America, but it sure isn't helping. Perhaps Lopez and Carrey can duke it out on Larry King.

*Correction: The goal of the campaign is to get adults vaccinated against whooping cough, not babies. BNET regrets the error. See comments section below.