Whooping Cough Is Surging. Do You Need Another Shot?

New York Times

06-06-2025

After a brief lull during the pandemic, whooping cough has bounced back, raising alarm among public health officials.
There have been more than 10,000 whooping cough cases in the United States so far this year, an unusually high number even by prepandemic standards, said Dr. Kathryn Edwards, a vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University who has studied whooping cough, also called pertussis, for decades. A branch of the World Health Organization recently called on countries with high levels of spread, including the U.S., to bolster surveillance of the illness and increase vaccination efforts.
Dr. Edwards said the surge was most likely a combination of falling childhood vaccination rates and a lack of exposure to the disease during the pandemic. That exposure 'reminds' the immune system how to recognize and defend against the bacteria.
While less deadly than other vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles and polio, whooping cough — sometimes called the 100-day cough — is not a mild illness.
The respiratory illness is known for causing bouts of coughing so intense that they can lead to vomiting or even broken ribs. About a third of babies who get whooping cough need treatment at a hospital. Last year, 10 people died from the infection, and most of them were younger than a year old.
'These cough seizures can be so profound that you can lose consciousness and fall,' said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
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