Victorian-era disease that killed children in Britain is now on the rise in American primary schools
A Victorian-era disease that is killing children in Britain is now reemerging in primary schools in the United States.
Whooping cough, or whooping cough, is one of the most contagious diseases and particularly dangerous for very young children whose immune systems are still developing.
Five babies – including some who were otherwise healthy – have already died from the disease in Britain this year, and the number of cases is on track to reach its highest level in more than four decades: almost 3,000 children recorded.
And now a similar wave is hitting the U.S., with elementary schools across the country, including in New York City and San Francisco, reporting outbreaks.
The number of infections on this side of the Atlantic has already surpassed 4,800 – equivalent to 270 percent more cases than at the same time last year. No deaths have been reported and it is not clear if there are cases among people who have not been vaccinated.
The graph above shows the number of whooping cough cases in 2023 and 2024 in the week ending May 25 in both years
After her condition worsened, she was taken to St Mary’s Hospital in London, where she was diagnosed with the condition and put on a ventilator. Polly is now awake and breathing on her own. Mrs Pearson (pictured) said: ‘I have never been so relieved in my life. I watched them take out the pipes and turn off all the machines (while she recovered). It was the best thing ever
Riley Hughes (pictured with his mother Catherine) was otherwise healthy when he died of whooping cough in 2015 at just one month old
Official figures from the CDC so far show that cases in 2024 have already surpassed the numbers in 2022, 2021 and 2020, when the maximum of 2,300 cases was reached.
Experts say the country is also on track to surpass the number in 2023, when 5,346 infections were recorded.
The US recorded the most cases since the 1950s in 2012, when 48,277 people were diagnosed with the disease – with the increase linked to waning immunity and changes in testing.
In the current outbreak, several states are behind the increase and reporting a rise in cases, including Oregon, which has seen a 770 percent increase in infections from last year, or 178 cases recorded so far compared to 20 in 2023. and Pennsylvania, which has recorded 601 cases, the most of any state to date.
Elementary schools in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Northern California, New Jersey and New York have all recorded outbreaks as well, with about a dozen children reported infected in each school.
The disease is also on the rise worldwide, with China also registering more than 32,000 cases in February this year – a 20-fold increase from 1,400 in 2023, with the rebound also linked to waning immunity from jabs.
Experts fear the disease will reemerge as vaccination rates drop and immunity wanes among adults, creating ideal conditions for its return.
There are also concerns that migrants could bring the disease to the US due to different vaccination standards in their home countries.
The mother of Polly Deehy (pictured left in hospital) has urged others to get vaccinated against whooping cough to protect babies after her daughter had to be kept in a coma for 10 days. Another mother in Britain has also made an emotional plea after her one-month-old daughter Rosie Robin (pictured) was hospitalized for two weeks with the disease
Adults and most children are protected against the disease by vaccination: they receive five doses from the age of two months to their seventh birthday, and a sixth between the ages of 11 and 12 years.
Adults are also recommended to receive a booster dose every 10 years, and pregnant women are asked to receive an injection between weeks 27 and 36 of pregnancy.
Patients are offered the DTaP vaccine, or the vaccination against Diptheria Tetanus and Pertussis, which is up to 98 percent effective in preventing the disease.
All 50 states require children to receive the DTaP vaccine to attend kindergarten, although it is possible to receive an exemption on medical grounds.
Adults who contract the disease often suffer a mild illness with a runny nose and mild cough, similar to a cold.
But babies, and even healthy babies, are at high risk of infection because they are too young to be vaccinated.
And because their lungs are so small, they may not be able to handle the coughing fits caused by the infection.
In Britain, a mother is urging more people to get the whooping cough vaccine to protect babies after her daughter Polly was put into a coma for 10 days due to the disease.
Kerry Pearson, 26, told the press: ‘I just want people to be aware of it. You should receive the whooping cough vaccine. If you are not offered it, please ask.
‘If you’re an anti-vaxxer, please reconsider – this is deadly for babies – it’s not worth the risk. Nothing is worth going through what we are going through.”
Her daughter was just two weeks old when she woke up with difficulty breathing on April 6 this year.
But after four days of coughing at home, she suddenly turned blue and her parents rushed their daughter to the hospital.
Within three days of admission, she was placed on a ventilator; the tubes were not disconnected until about two weeks later after she began to recover.
Speaking about the experience, Ms Pearson added: ‘I have never been so relieved in my life. I watched them take out the pipes and turn off all the machines (while she recovered). It was the best thing ever.
‘The odds were not in her favor, but she was very lucky. There is no evidence of permanent problems, but she may have some weakness in her lungs, time will tell.”
Whooping cough is spread through aerosol droplets released when an infected person coughs.
Adults suffer from a mild illness, characterized by a runny nose and mild cough, similar to flu.
Data shows fewer Americans are getting vaccinated against the disease in the wake of the Covid pandemic, raising the risk of a resurgence of the disease
But in infants the disease can be fatal – quickly leading to coughing fits – where the coughing comes on quickly and increases in intensity. They may also gag and gasp for air.
It can be fatal as the disease causes babies to lack oxygen, which can cause brain damage and seizures. It can also weaken the immune system, increasing the risk of secondary infections – such as pneumonia – which can be fatal.
About one in five babies who get whooping cough develop pneumonia, while one in a hundred die from the infection.
Approximately 200,000 cases of whooping cough and 9,000 deaths among children from the disease are recorded in the US each year.
But after a vaccine was introduced in 1991, these numbers fell sharply, with up to 20 babies dying from the infection every year.
However, vaccination rates among children in the US are falling, with experts fearing this could open the door to more cases and further outbreaks.
CDC data shows that nearly 95 percent of preschoolers were up to date on the DTaP vaccine through 2019, just at the threshold needed to prevent an outbreak.
But rates have since fallen. The latest estimate for the 2022 to 2023 school year shows that only 92.7 percent had been vaccinated.