The U.S. is seeing a spike in cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough, this year, as case numbers rebound from their lowest levels in decades during the pandemic. In Washington, cases haven't just returned to their pre-pandemic levels, they've exceeded them.
According to the Washington state Department of Health's (DOH) most recent update, there have been 873 reported cases of the illness through the first 40 weeks of 2024. That's over 20 times higher than the case count at the same point in 2023, and the highest total in a single year since the 1,383 cases recorded in 2015.
While it's only mid-October, 2024's case count is the fifth-highest that the state has seen since the late 1950s.
While the number of cases has dipped slightly since its peak in early to mid-August, according to DOH data, the department warns that the most recent data is still incomplete, since it can take three to four weeks for a case to be recorded.
Washington whooping cough cases by county
Clark County has seen by far the most cases in the state — 318 — followed by King County at 117 and Spokane County at 79. With 63 cases and just over 80,000 residents, Chelan County has the highest case rate relative to its population.
Children have the highest risk of catching whooping cough
Children are most at risk from the illness. 26% of the state's pertussis patients have been between the ages of one and four, while 19% have ranged from ages five to nine. Only 15% of the cases have been reported in patients over the age of 18.
What caused the whooping cough spike?
Speaking to McClatchy in summer 2024, Eric Chow, the chief of communicable disease epidemiology and immunizations for Seattle and King County, said that the spike has primarily been caused by the return to normal activity after the pandemic, when people weren't being exposed to pertussis nearly as often.
"As people return to normal activities, as people are traveling more, we're seeing an increase in these types of respiratory diseases," Chow said in a video call.
Other pandemic-related factors have contributed to the sharp spike as well, including better testing and artificially-low case numbers during the heart of the pandemic, when people were more likely to stay inside and not go to the doctor.
"We're having better PCR tests, or the molecular tests, that have been rolled into these other comprehensive respiratory panels that have come about more commonly as a result of the pandemic."
Symptoms of whooping cough
Pertussis symptoms tend to be similar to those of a common cold. One key difference is that pertussis patients often have "spasms of severe coughing (paroxysms) ending in a gasp, whoop, or vomiting," according to DOH.
Whooping cough vaccine and treatment
There is a vaccine available for pertussis, and it's often included with the tetanus shot.
"People may not realize that it's actually part of the tetanus vaccine, because frequently we think of the tetanus vaccine as tetanus. But Tdap, which has a small 'p' at the end for adults, is a pertussis component," Chow said.
According to Chow, getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent infection.
"Vaccination is our best defense against this pathogen," Chow said.
If you do catch pertussis, it can be treated with antibiotics. Severe cases can lead to hospitalization, according to the CDC.
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