CDCWhooping cough, or pertussis, has reached epidemic proportions in California, the state Department of Public Health (CDPH) said in a statement issued last week (June 13). Counties have reported 3,458 cases of the disease this year; more than 800 of these were reported in the last two weeks alone.
Pertussis epidemics are cyclical and peak every three to five years. A 2010 outbreak in the state resulted in more than 9,000 cases, the most recorded in any year since 1947. Health officials said this year’s cases are on track to meet that number, the Los Angeles Times reported. The majority of these cases have occurred in infants and children under 18.
“Prevention of pertussis is particularly important in young infants because they are the ones at risk for severe disease and death,” Gil Chavez, state epidemiologist and deputy director of the California Department of Public Health, told reporters.
Cases of the disease have been on the rise since the 1990s; a June 10 CDPH report pointed to the increasing use of acellular pertussis vaccines ...
