A deadly disease that mostly affects young children is on the rise in the U.S., health officials have warned.
Since 2020, whooping cough cases have increased exponentially. However, these reports have not been evenly spread across the country. "Whooping cough can cause serious and sometimes deadly complications," a spokesperson from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told Newsweek.
The disease, also known as pertussis, is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis. These bacteria attach to the tiny hairs in our breathing tubes and release toxins that cause our airways to swell. While whooping cough may begin like a common cold, the resulting cough can last for weeks or even months.
"Babies are at highest risk of getting very sick from whooping cough, especially in the first few months of life before they are old enough to get their own vaccines," the CDC spokesperson said.
Babies can experience complications such as apnea (long pauses in breathing), pneumonia, convulsions and encephalopathy (disease of the brain), the spokesperson said, adding, "One in 100 babies who gets whooping cough will die from those complications."
Teens and adults can also have complications from whooping cough, although they are usually less serious in older age groups.
In 2023, 5,611 cases of the disease were reported across the country, up from 2,388 in 2022 and 2,116 in 2021. And this trend appears to have continued in 2024.
Preliminary data show that more than five times as many cases have been reported as of week 40 (17,579), reported on October 5, compared with the same time in 2023 (3,260), the CDC spokesperson said.
"The number of reported cases this year is higher than what was seen at the same time in 2019—10,879—prior to the pandemic," the spokesperson said.
However, some states have seen significantly more cases of whooping cough than others. The map below shows where the disease saw the most significant growth between 2021 and 2023:
Ohio saw the fastest growth in whooping cough cases, increasing from 0.97 cases per 100,000 in 2021 to 6.89 cases per 100,000 in 2023. Not only did the state see the most growth but it also had the highest absolute caseloads, with 810 reports in total.
South Dakota saw the second-highest growth rate, increasing from 0.11 cases per 100,000 in 2021 to 4.51 cases per 100,000 in 2023. However, Illinois saw the second-highest number of cases in total, at 607.
During this period, nine deaths were reported to the CDC as a result of infection.
Given this preliminary data, should we be concerned?
"It's always concerning to see an infectious disease affecting so many people," the CDC spokesperson said. "[But] this is not unexpected. Whooping cough is a cyclic disease, and the United States typically sees peaks in disease every three to five years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted typical whooping cough patterns."
So what can you do to protect yourself from whooping cough?
"Whooping cough vaccines continue to be the best way to protect people from whooping cough and its complications," the spokesperson said. "Whooping cough is usually less severe for those who have been vaccinated. CDC recommends whooping cough vaccines for people of all ages. Tdap vaccination during each pregnancy is critical for providing the best protection to the youngest of babies."
The spokesperson continued: "Babies younger than 2 months old are at the greatest risk for having severe complications from whooping cough. Since they can't get their own whooping cough vaccine [DTaP] until 2 months old, it's critical that they are born with protection by their mom getting vaccinated while pregnant."
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