Whooping cough (pertussis) cases in the United States were nearly 16 times higher in 2024 than during the Covid-19 pandemic low in 2021, warn experts, and numbers continue to rise.
Figures from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that cases for 2024 were five times higher than in 2023 – 35 435 cases versus just more than 7 000, reports Everyday Health.
In 2021, when people were social distancing and in lockdown during the early part of the pandemic, there were barely 2 000 reported cases, but since the start of this year, the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota estimates that at least 6 600 people have contracted the illness.
Reports from local health departments suggest that infections may continue to rise in the months to come.
In Louisiana, two infants have died of pertussis in the past six months, and at least 110 cases have been identified since the beginning of this year – the news coming hard on the heels of an announcement by the Louisiana Surgeon General that the state will no longer encourage mass vaccination.
In Washington, in its weekly pertussis update from the beginning of April, a total of 807 cases have been reported so far this year, compared with 148 cases at the same time last year. This included the death of a child under five.
And in Idaho, an adult died of pertussis in February, while 574 cases have been reported since January.
Why Is whooping cough coming back?
Stephen Aronoff, MD, a professor of Paediatrics who specialises in infectious diseases at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, suggests the rise in infections is still due in large part to the pandemic, when a significant number of children were not immunised.
“There were years where we simply were unable to adequately vaccinate children, and now we have a whole population who may be under-vaccinated,” he said. “You also have pockets in communities where you have under-vaccination for one reason or another, whether it’s religious beliefs, distrust of vaccines, or something else.”
Vaccination the best protection
Despite the waning power of vaccination, Alex Sette, a doctor of biological sciences and a professor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California, said these shots continue to offer the best defence against whooping cough.
Before the availability of a pertussis vaccine in the 1940s, more than 200 000 cases were recorded annually, and the disease was a major cause of death among US children.
“There is a lot of concern in the medical scientific community about misinformation and the whole polarisation associated with vaccine acceptance,” said Sette. “People may not be as diligent in providing childhood vaccination to their children, which is very concerning because if more people are not properly vaccinated, that is potentially a leading factor in the increased circulation of pertussis.”
Everyday Health article – Whooping Cough Is Making a Comeback (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Whooping cough cases still rising
Childhood jabs at risk as medical and religious freedom wins ground
Pertussis resurgence: Incomplete coverage and vaccination ‘hesitancy’