Pertussis cases were lower than usual over the past few years, during and following the COVID-19 pandemic, the health agency said.
Cases of whooping cough, formally known as pertussis, are on the rise across the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Approximately 17,579 cases of the illness—caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria—have been reported as of the week ending on Oct. 5, the most recent data that the CDC has made available. About 3,962 cases of whooping cough were reported during the same time period in 2023, the CDC data
show.
Year-over-year, the number of whooping cough cases has increased by around 343 percent.
“In 2024, reported cases of pertussis increased across the United States, indicating a return to more typical trends,” the CDC
said on Oct. 10.
Cases Dropped During Pandemic
The U.S. generally sees around 10,000 cases of pertussis each year, according to CDC
data. In 2019, about 18,600 cases were reported, but in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, reported whooping cough infections dropped significantly, reaching a record low of approximately 2,100 in 2021.
“Reports of pertussis cases were lower than usual over the past few years, during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the United States is beginning to return to pre-pandemic patterns where more than 10,000 cases are typically reported each year,”
said the CDC.
But the CDC has warned that for 2024, “the number of reported cases this year is higher than what was seen at the same time in 2019,” or before COVID-19 emerged.
What Doctors Say
Whooping cough is “highly contagious,” Dr. Tanya Altmann, an adjunct clinical professor at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,
said in an Oct. 11 video posted on her X social media account. She noted that vaccine-related immunity “wears off over time” in some people.
Children generally get the DTaP vaccine, a series of shots for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, while adults can receive the TDaP vaccine, which targets the same illnesses, she noted.
The CDC has
said that childhood vaccines are the best way to prevent pertussis but has cautioned that “unvaccinated and vaccinated populations” could contract the bacterial infection if “typical infection patterns return.” Pertussis can infect vaccinated individuals because “protection from vaccination fades over time,” the agency also said.
Altmann said that people often feel like they are suffering a cold for a week or two before developing a “really forceful, horrific cough.” Children and adults can cough “until they throw up,” she said.
Children aged 1 and under can stop breathing due to the bacteria and often require antibiotics, Altmann said.
“This is an infection that causes quite a significant cough,” Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a pediatric infectious diseases expert with the Mayo Clinic, said in an Oct. 14
article. “It can start like a cold with some runny nose, which then turns into a cough.”
Signs and Symptoms
While pertussis can start like the common cold, the cough can last for several months, officials
say.
“Those who get these coughing fits say it’s the worst cough of their lives,” the CDC says on its website.
The illness also can cause a low-grade fever, difficulty sleeping, breathing problems, and even rib fractures. The U.N. Children’s Fund recently
stated that whooping cough is highly contagious and usually is spread via coughing or sneezing respiratory droplets. Symptoms generally appear between a week to 10 days after infection, it noted.
Younger children and babies may struggle to breathe, while adults and older children tend to have mild symptoms that are similar to the common cold,
according to the Washington State Department of Health (WSDH).
If people suspect they or a family member has whooping cough or has been exposed, they should call their doctor, clinic, or nurse and ask to be diagnosed.
“Try to stay away from other people until you have completed the first 5 days of treatment, or until you receive a different diagnosis and know you aren’t contagious,” the WSDH website says.
The illness was considered common in the 19th and early 20th centuries until it was controlled by childhood vaccination, health officials say.
