U.S. Whooping Cough Cases Are Climbing as Vaccine Rates Decline

Why You Should Also Worry About Whooping Cough Amid Measles Outbreak While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak, experts warn that whooping cough and other preventable diseases could get much worse with falling vaccination rates and Trump’s slashing of public health infrastructure. Duaa Eldeib,Patricia Callahan,Sarahbeth Maney ProPublica

While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak concentrated in the small, dusty towns of West Texas, cases of pertussis have skyrocketed by more than 1,500% nationwide since hitting a recent low in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Deaths tied to the disease are also up, hitting 10 last year, compared with about two to four in previous years. Cases are on track to exceed that total this year.

...