Whooping Cough Cases Rising In NY; Infants Most Vulnerable: CDC

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Along with a summer spike in COVID-19, health officials are alerting residents about a rise in whooping cough infections in the Hudson Valley as students head back to school.

The highly-contagious respiratory illness is spread from person to person, typically through the air. Cases of whooping cough (pertussis) were lower than usual over the past several years but have begun to climb to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nationally, the number of cases has more than tripled from 2023 to 2024. In New York, CDC data shows that there were 338 total cases of pertussis as of this time in 2023. As of Aug. 17, there have been 1,396 cases reported in 2024.

"It’s likely that preventative actions used during the pandemic (e.g., good hygiene, distancing) lowered transmission of this disease," the CDC said in its latest report. "We’re now beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels, where we typically see more than 10,000 cases of people with whooping cough each year. The number of reported cases this year is close to what was seen at the same time in 2019."

A typical case of pertussis starts with a cough and runny nose for one to two weeks, followed by weeks to months of rapid coughing fits. These coughing spells sometimes end with a whooping sound as the person gasps for air, hence the name "whooping cough." Fever, if present, is usually mild.

Symptoms can vary for people based on their age and if they've been vaccinated or not, and health experts say that antibiotics can lessen the severity of symptoms and prevent the spread of disease to others.

Health officials strongly urge pregnant women and people who come into close contact with young infants to get vaccinated. Newborns are at the greatest risk of getting whooping cough, since they are too young to be fully vaccinated.

The CDC recommends the following schedule for the TDaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis) vaccination that helps protect people from whooping cough:

• A TDaP booster is recommended for pregnant women early in their third trimester and during each pregnancy to protect their newborns.
• Young children need five TDaP doses by kindergarten: at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 to 18 months, and 4 to 6 years.
• After that, the first TDaP booster is due at age 11. All students entering seventh grade are required to have proof of a whooping cough booster immunization.
• One dose of TDaP is recommended for adults 19 years of age and older who did not get TDaP as a teenager.
• After that, getting TDaP instead of the standard tetanus shot every 10 years will also reduce infections.