Whooping Cough Outbreaks Increase

In June, the state of California declared an epidemic of whooping cough (pertussis) with 910 confirmed cases, making it possible that California will have the largest whooping cough outbreak in 50 years.As of that time, five people had died of whooping cough in California, all of them Latino babies under the age of 3 months old. Symptoms of whooping cough are a common cold, followed by a cough that doesn’t go away for weeks or months, and can sometimes result in a whooping sound.(See the related story on page 49.)

According to public health officials, the whooping cough vaccine can wear off after five years, so they are encouraging older children to be revaccinated. They also are warning Californians to get their vaccinations as soon as possible because the illness is highly contagious. Babies are normally vaccinated with the DTap vaccine for whooping cough several times during their first year of life, and additional rounds are recommended at between 15 and 18 months, and again between ages 4 and 6.