Rates of whooping cough are ballooning in Ohio and across the nation.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a vaccine-preventable illness that causes virus-like symptoms and a cough that lasts several weeks. It’s especially dangerous for infants due to their small airways.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks pertussis cases using a national surveillance system. Preliminary data show that nearly six times as many cases of whooping cough have been reported in the U.S. in November, as were reported the same time last year.
Dr. Joseph Khabbaza, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Cleveland Clinic, said cases haven’t snowballed in his intensive care units yet, but he’s concerned about the spread.
“If this uptick in pertussis cases leads to more pneumonia and hospitalizations, especially amongst the elderly or immunocompromised, that could lead to a lot of bad outcomes during the holidays," he said.
It could also lead to infant deaths, added Khabbaza.
Doctors tend to see a spike in whooping cough cases every few years as vaccinated people’s protection fades over time, and the illness spreads among the unvaccinated.
Amy Edwards, a University Hospitals’ pediatric infectious disease specialist, is concerned more moms-to-be are resisting vaccines.
“With the RSV vaccine coming out, people are very distrustful of it," she said. "Then [the distrust is] starting slowly to bleed backwards, even into older vaccines that maybe they did trust in the past.”
A CDC report last year found the proportion of pregnant women who reported being very hesitant about the vaccination during pregnancy increased between 2019 and 2023.
The study found pregnant women were more likely to get the Tdap vaccine — a combination shot that protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis — when their doctors recommended it.
Edwards tells her patients any potential risk from vaccines is small compared with the real risk of infants ending up in the hospital with whooping cough.
Khabbaza said it's good for all adults to stay up to date on their Tdap vaccines.
The current recommendation is to get shots every 10 years, but since immunity wanes over time, Khabbaza said people can get them sooner, especially if they have an immunocompromised person at home.
