Health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported elevated pertussis activity across multiple states, after months of warning Americans that pertussis—or whooping cough—was on pace to return pre-pandemic levels. Weekly reported cases are accelerating to the highest levels seen in the United States for years. For the month of July alone 2,410 cases were reported, bringing the total case count to 10,257 since January. This is 3.6 times higher than the 2,815 cases reported over a similar period last year. Pennsylvania is the most affected state, recently reporting 1,489 cases.
Potentially a solvable issue: Among the driving factors could be waning protection from acellular pertussis vaccines and vaccine resistance among parents.