Whooping cough, a respiratory infection that is particularly deadly for infants, has been relatively calm since a 2019 outbreak in California, but officials fear a return.
It's been five years since the last major outbreak of whooping cough in California, but the disease is on the rise. Nationwide, cases of pertussis, as the illness is formally known, are nearly three times higher in 2024 than during the first five months of 2023, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
'They often need to be hospitalized and monitored closely,' Yeganeh said. The earliest age an infant can be vaccinated is six weeks. Children receive five doses of the vaccine by the time they are 6. And California officials require a booster dose for students entering seventh grade. The CDC and CDPH also recommend booster shots for adults. Yeganeh said she was traumatized by seeing infants with whooping cough struggle to breathe when she worked in hospitals. L.A.
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