Pertussis: A Brief Backgrounder for Primary Care
US whooping cough cases have more than doubled over the same time period in 2024 and 2 infants have died from the infection. Here, highlights of the infection, vaccines.
Whooping cough cases surpassed 6500 in March, putting the US on course for the most cases recorded since the first pertussis vaccine was developed in the late 1940s.1 More recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the count at more than 8000 cases, a greater than 2-fold increase over 2024.2 Before the vaccine's introduction, as many as 9000 children died of pertussis every year. Current estimates are that 20 infants die each year from the disease. Babies younger than 1 year are at the greatest risk for pertussis and approximately one-third require hospitalization.3
Experts point to several factors driving the current surge in cases4:
- Declining vaccination rates
- Vaccine hesitancy and misinformation impact on immunization
- Waning immunity
- Genetic mutation of the pathogen
Social distancing and other precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to what is now a dangerous trend. "Levels of pertussis dropped dramatically when we were all masking, and now this huge increase is getting us back to pre-pandemic levels, and probably a little above that,” Thomas Murray, MD, PhD, a Yale Medicine pediatric infectious diseases specialist, said in a statement.3 Pertussis is recognized for its high level of contagion and is spread easily through the air.
The short slide show above offers a high-level review of the origins of the disease, the demographics, symptoms, and treatment. Pertussis vaccines have been in use for decades, are well studied, and significantly reduce the severity of illness and prevent hospitalizations and deaths. The CDC recommended vaccination and booster timing is available here.
