Whooping Cough Comes Back with a Cough

These days, whooping cough is really giving the US a hard time. It's been increasing for months, and there's no sign it's slowing down. By mid-December, over 32, 000 cases were reported, which is almost six times more than last year and the highest since 2014. Called pertussis, it's a super contagious lung infection. It starts with a common cold type of symptoms and then turns into a harsh cough that can last for weeks. You might even break some ribs from the severe coughing fits! What's scary is that people can spread it without knowing they have it. During the pandemic, cases dropped because people weren't socializing as much and were taking precautions against Covid-19. But now, the US is getting back to the pre-pandemic pattern. The number of reported cases has been going up fast since mid-September and is especially high in the Midwest states. Pennsylvania is the leader in reported cases. Kids under 1 year are the most at risk because their immune systems aren't fully developed yet. Vaccines offer the best protection against whooping cough, but not everyone gets them. Only about 92% of kindergarten kids had the DTaP vaccine for the current school year, missing the federal goal of 95%. Even if you do get vaccinated, the protection can fade. If you catch whooping cough early, antibiotics can treat it. But if it's too late, the only way to deal with it is to rest and drink plenty of fluids until it goes away. As winter approaches, other respiratory illnesses like Covid-19 and the flu are also on the rise.