Whooping cough vaccine needs more promotion [View all]
By Lisa Jarvis / Bloomberg Opinion
If you’ve heard the telltale cough and seen an infant gasp for breath, it’s easy to understand why a pertussis outbreak strikes fear in a parent’s heart. Babies can wind up hospitalized or even die from the bacterial infection.
That’s why the recent surge in cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, should serve as a warning that we need to do more to instill confidence in and improve access to routine vaccination against the respiratory illness.
Infants typically receive the vaccine in a three-dose series of DTap shots between two and six months of age, then two more boosters by age 6. Adolescents and adults should get a Tdap booster every 10 years. Pregnant individuals should get a Tdap shot during every pregnancy.
An estimated 35,435 cases of pertussis were reported in the U.S. in 2024 — and 2,040 in Washington state (through Dec. 28), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s five times the number of infections seen in 2023, and the most since 2012, when the country experienced the worst outbreak in more than 50 years.
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