Nationwide Whooping Cough Cases Up 4X From This Time Last Year - 2024 Case Count Now Tops 20,000 Through Mid-October
EDIT
Erie County saw its largest pertussis outbreak since at least 2012 when 15 people tested positive in September for the vaccine-preventable bacterial illness commonly known as whooping cough. By comparison, only four pertussis cases were reported in the county from 2020 to 2023, according to the Erie County Department of Health.
Nearly all of the September cases were connected, said Colleen Wallace, R.N., director of community health services for the county Health Department. "I'd say 90% of the cases were affiliated with one particular church and many of them were not vaccinated," said Wallace, who declined to identify the church.
Pertussis is a respiratory disease that spreads easily and can cause serious health complications in babies and the elderly. About one in three infants who develops pertussis requires hospital treatment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The number of pertussis cases has skyrocketed across the country after declining during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 20,791 cases this year through Oct. 26, compared to 4,559 during the same period in 2023.
Why is pertussis on the rise? Doctors said there are several possible explanations, including more testing for the disease and the possibility that the bacterium that causes pertussis has mutated. "I think vaccine hesitancy doesn't help," said Dr. Robert Burns, a UPMC Hamot pediatrician. "And staying isolated when you have the illness can be difficult."
EDIT
https://www.goerie.com/story/news/healthcare/2024/11/08/pertussis-whooping-cough-outbreak-affects-15-erie-county-pa/76094680007/
= new reply since forum marked as read
I am sure RFKjr is already on the case.
