There’s been a three-fold increase in whooping cough cases in the city, and officials are urging anyone who cares for a baby to get vaccinated.
No one has died in the latest outbreak, but whooping cough — a violent, chronic cough also known as pertussis — can be extremely dangerous to infants.
Nearly all the babies under 6 months old who fell ill with the highly contagious disease between August and November had to be hospitalized.
Some other disease outbreaks — like measles — have been fueled by parents refusing to get their children inoculated out of the debunked fear the shots cause autism.
Studies show it can wear off within a decade, so some people who were immunized as children are no longer protected in adolescence or adulthood.
They get infected with pertussis and pass it on to young children who have not yet gotten all their shots — administered at two months, four months, six months and a year.
An alert issued last month by the Health Department said there were 126 reported cases between August and November, compared to 45 in the same period the previous year.
A quarter of patients were younger than 1 and another quarter were older than 20.
There were cases in every borough, some clustered in schools or families. The most recent spike was noted on Staten Island, officials said.
Whooping cough often starts as a generic respiratory illness that progresses to a severe cough. The fits can be so bad they make children vomit, and they are sometimes accompanied by a sharp intake of breath with a “whoop” sound.
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2 Responses
I had it in September – in adults there isnt a “whooping” sound, but the coughing was so violent I couldnt catch my breath. Not only did my throat and head hurt from coughing, but so did my ribs, back, and chest. Baruch Hashem I dont have babies, but I had to go back to the dr a second time before I was diagnosed.
B”H you are feeling better. Now you know why they say that the cough can even break ribs! Folks who refuse the 11yo additional booster are just plain stupid (and I don’t use that word lightly). Like measels, it is a brutal childhood disease that has been nearly irradicated. Our parents remember them, but too many of todays young parents don’t and therefore treat immunizations with a cavalier attitude that can be deadly.