Whooping cough surging in some countries. Why you may need a booster.
Whooping cough outbreaks in Europe, Asia and parts of the U.S. should be a reminder to get vaccinated, experts say.
Whooping cough outbreaks in Europe, Asia and parts of the U.S. should be a reminder to get vaccinated, experts say.
Since January, cases of whooping cough have risen sharply in the U.K. and Europe, the largest surge since 2012.
China logged more than 15,000 cases in January of this year, a 15-fold increase over the same time period last year. This month there have been small clusters of reported cases among high school students in the San Francisco Bay Area and several isolated cases in Hawaii. From October through earlier this year, New York City went through an outbreak, with more than 200 cases of mostly young children.
Whooping cough, or Bordetella pertussis — the bacteria that causes the illness — is a very contagious respiratory illness spread through small respiratory droplets. Due to widespread vaccination, whooping cough is largely under control in the U.S., but breakthrough cases, which are usually mild, do happen in people who are vaccinated.
“Some U.S. health departments have informed us of local outbreaks, which we expect to see every year,” Jasmine Reed, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson, told NBC News. “So we are not seeing anything unusual.”
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