The number of whooping cough cases is increasing sixfold from the same time last year in the US, affecting states ranging from Pennsylvania and New York on the East Coast to Wisconsin and Ohio in the Midwest and California and Washington in the West.
Experts say the spike in cases is likely a return to the pre-pandemic cycle, in which cases of the disease would decline and disappear about every five years. But some experts worry that a decline in vaccine uptake in recent years could be more severe this season.
“It’s a big year, no doubt, but I don’t think it will be dramatically bigger than the big years before the pandemic,” said Mark Sawyer, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. But, he added, “it is a very, very contagious infection, so once the infection gets going, it spreads among susceptible people, and we may have built up a larger susceptible population than normal.”
Whooping cough is a bacterial infection known as whooping cough and is characterized by a distinctive cough that may sound like ‘whoop’. The disease is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed because it can be confused with other respiratory infections.
Cases of the disease went up dropped during the pandemic as people were social distancing and masking up. This year, the CDC says it has recorded about 25,000 cases of whooping cough most recent data. That is well below the worst years of whooping cough before the pandemic, but several times higher compared to the peak of the pandemic. The number of cases decreased around the lowest value 2,100 in 2021.
Meanwhile, business continues to increase; the disease usually peaks during late fall and winter.
“It is always worrying to see an infectious disease affecting so many people. Preliminary cases reported so far in 2024 have not been this high at this time of year since 2014, but this is not unexpected,” a CDC spokesperson said by email.
Doctors who treat whooping cough are most concerned when young babies, for whom it can be life-threatening, develop the disease. But adults can also contract the disease and spread it to susceptible children. “Adults often don’t know they have whooping cough,” said Andrew Pavia, professor of pediatric infectious diseases at University of Utah Health.
The recent rise in cases is not surprising, said Tina Tan, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. But “what is a little discouraging is the fact that some of this could be prevented if people stay up to date on their vaccinations, because that is the best way to protect individuals from these vaccine-preventable diseases.”
There are two vaccines against whooping cough: Tdap for older children and adults, and DTaP for infants. The immunity from these vaccines does not last long and usually wanes after about three years. An older version of the vaccine, which was shelved because it led to more common reactions like a sore arm and fever, offered protection somewhere around. five to ten years. The number of children who received all four recommended doses of the DTap vaccine fell by 2.5 percentage points between 2018 and 2021, according to recent CDC data.
Still, “despite the fact that our vaccines are no longer as good as they were thirty years ago, if we follow the rules and ensure that children are vaccinated, or ensure that all pregnant women are vaccinated with every pregnancy,” this would remain low , said James Cherry, professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Several experts expressed concern that vaccine critics like RFK Jr., nominated to take over the Department of Health and Human Services under the new Trump administration, could threaten to worsen in coming years. “Despite the vaccine skepticism that seems to be spreading, there are many important diseases we can prevent and vaccines remain very important,” Pavia said.
Tan, who is also the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of Americasays it and several other major medical associations are working on a way to address concerns surrounding the next administration.
“The most important thing now, before any really crazy things can come out, is that people take advantage of this time to get their vaccinations up to date and access public health and medical care if they need it.”