Science
Whooping Cough Cases Continue To Rise In The United States
- Amanda Stewart , Design & Trend
- Dec, 06, 2014, 05:50 PM

California is in the midst of the worst whooping cough epidemic since the vaccine for the infection came out. Health officials said the epidemic is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Officials are blaming the new vaccine for the whooping cough outbreak in California, NBC reported.
Many parents were displeased with the older vaccine because of its side effects. It often hurt the child and sometimes caused seizures.
While the new vaccine has proven to be more gentle, it is not as potent. Because of this, outbreaks and epidemics (like we've seen in California) will happen.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly report, 9,935 cases of whooping cough have been recorded and one baby has died in the year's outbreak. In 2010, California had a similar epidemic that infected 9,000 people and killed 10 babies.
It seems that babies are most vulnerable when it comes to whooping cough. Officials said that babies should be vaccinated at two, four and six months. People should also get a booster every 10 years or so.
CDC officials also recommend pregnant women be vaccinated within their last few weeks of pregnancy to protect the newborn.
"Prenatal care providers are encouraged to provide Tdap to pregnant women or refer patients to obtain vaccine from an alternative provider, such as a pharmacy or local public health department," Kathleen Winters of the California health department wrote.
Many babies who become infected are born to mothers who did not get vaccinated while they were pregnant, Diabetes Insider reported. Because many newborns are too small to get vaccinated, they are extremely vulnerable to whopping cough.
"During the 2010 pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic in California, the main strategy used to protect infants was 'cocooning' (i.e., vaccinating contacts of infants so they do not transmit pertussis to the infant)," Winters wrote. "However, this strategy is difficult to implement, and even if all anticipated contacts could be immunized, infants could still be exposed to infected persons in the community."
As the whooping cough epidemic continues, doctors warn the public to continue good hygiene practices and keep on the lookout for signs of the disease.
Whooping cough can be characterized by a nagging cough that often leaves children gasping for air. Adults can have this type of cough even though they've been vaccinated. Many adults believe whooping cough to be a persistent cough and go untreated. Each year, it kills about 300,000 people worldwide.
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