Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that cases of whooping cough are on the rise across the United States.
Several states have issued alerts about whooping cough in recent weeks, including Oregon. As of May 29, some 178 cases of the bacterial infection have been reported, marking a 770 percent increase from the same time last year, said the Oregon Health Association in a news release. “Our concern is with how quickly we jumped to such a high number of pertussis cases, which tell us that the disease is doing what it does best: spreading fast and taking a greater toll on undervaccinated persons,” Paul Cieslak, with the agency, said in the news release.
But the agency’s release said that the numbers are “roughly in line with those seen during similar time frames in the immediate pre-pandemic years, including 2019, when there were 93 cases, and 2018, which saw 248 cases.” “We are likely entering an epidemic year for pertussis,” James Lewis, the health officer of Washington’s Snohomish County Health Department, said in a statement issued late last week. “This would occasionally occur pre-pandemic, and this year’s resurgence of pertussis could be larger than a typical epidemic year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many folks have fallen behind on immunizations and that, combined with the lack of pertussis circulating in recent years, has likely decreased overall immunity within the broader community.” His office recommended.