Big Rise in Whooping Cough Cases This Year

Big Rise in Whooping Cough Cases This Year
Big Rise in Whooping Cough Cases This Year.

United States: There has already been a big increase in the cases of whooping cough, which is also called pertussis. So far this year, there have been reached almost 422 cases, which is 744 percent more than last year when there were only like almost 50 cases or lesser than that. This is part of a bigger trend happening all across the United States, and health experts are warning people to be aware and stay safe.

In Illinois, there are the numbers which are similarly high: That was up from the  428 cases at this time last year and there were like round about  1,356 reported cases.

Pertussis which is also known as whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the respiratory system. It’s named for the ‘whoop’ noise people make when they gasp for air between coughs.

As reported by the stlpr.org, antibiotics are used to treat whooping cough. Yet many can see the infection as a cold or a virus, said University of Missouri Health pediatric infectious disease physician Dr. Amruta Padhye.

https://twitter.com/WLNS/status/1853564598416261391

Symptoms of whooping cough can be mistaken for another respiratory virus and largely missed, she said. “We may think it’s a cold but that early phase of one to two weeks is when it actually happens.”

Most people won’t get seriously ill from whooping cough, but babies, people with severe asthma and those with weakened immune systems can become very sick or die if they develop the disease.

“We have one of the key things that when community rates are up, that means those most susceptible to the infection are being exposed to it as well,” Padhye said.

Rates are returning to pre coronavirus pandemic levels, federal health officials say. In the last four years, we’ve used masking and everything else we have to keep infections from spreading.

But Missouri numbers are already above last year’s total with two months to go in the calendar.

They added that the rise in reported cases may by partially due to increased awareness and increased testing.

https://twitter.com/wwmtnews/status/1853544773153337607

Because the most effective protection against whooping cough is through the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis vaccine, doctors say. Children, adolescents and pregnant women get the Tdap shot.

When you get the Tdap vaccine during pregnancy, you pass on some immunity to your babys. That’s really very important because infants are too small to be given the whopping cough vaccine.

This infection could be really dangerous for the coming future generations and can lead to the serious infection in their lungs.