The United States is experiencing a significant surge in whooping cough cases, reaching the highest annual total in a decade. Experts attribute the increase to a combination of factors, including waning vaccine protection, lower vaccination rates, and improved testing.
The U.S. has recorded over 32,000 whooping cough cases this year, compared with around 5,100 as of mid-December last year. Infants are most vulnerable to the bacterial infection. Whooping cough cases in the U.S. have reached the highest annual total in a decade, with as many cases tallied in the last 12 weeks as in the entire rest of the year. That's a six-fold increase from the same time in 2022, when more than 5,100 cases had been recorded.
The total for 2021 was even lower, at Experts attribute the high case tally to a combination of factors. For one, whooping cough cases dropped to levels far lower than average during the Covid pandemic, so a jump back to pre-pandemic patterns was expected. However, this year’s total is significantly higher than 2019’s, likely due to waning vaccine protection, lower vaccination rates and improved testing, they said. Also known as pertussis, whooping cough is a bacterial infection that affects the upper respiratory system. Its spread typically follows a seasonal pattern, with a peak in the fall or winter. Early symptoms can resemble a common cold — cough, fever and a runny nose — but after a week or two, patients often develop aggressive cough attacks during which it's difficult to breathe. The term whooping cough is a reference to the high-pitched “whoop” sound that some infected people make as they inhale after a coughing fit. 'They don’t have time in between those coughs to take a breath,' said Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at University of California, Davis, Children’s Hospital.'Sometimes, if it’s so severe, the kids end up being intubated or on a ventilator so that they can get oxygen.' Infants are the most vulnerable to whooping cough, with the highest risk of getting infected and of serious complication
WHOOPING COUGH Pertussis HEALTH OUTBREAK VACCINATIONS INFANTS
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