tdap adult booster :: Article CreatorWhooping Cough Cases Surging Towards 70-year High In US
President Donald Trump congratulates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after he was sworn in as Health and Human Services Secretary in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington. [AP Photo/Alex Brandon]
Cases of whooping cough—or pertussis as it's more formally known—have been quietly but strongly surging to pre-pandemic levels and beyond. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Nationally Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) found there have been 8,845 cases of pertussis in the United States so far this year, and the number is rapidly expanding.
According to a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), when extrapolated out for the remainder of 2025, the total number of cases of whooping cough will very likely exceed the 74,715 cases seen in 1948, the year the pertussis vaccine was first introduced. The number of cases so far this year already exceeds the total number seen in any year between 1968 and 2001.
Pertussis is a respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Bordatella pertussis. It typically causes violent bouts of coughing that leave its victims desperately gasping for air between coughing fits. This often results in a high-pitched sound as the victim draws breath, or "whooping" sound, giving the disease its informal, common name.
Oftentimes, the coughing is so violent that it causes rib fractures. The broken ribs can then cause punctures of the lung, known in medical terms as pneumothorax. Pneumothorax is a medical emergency.
The mortality rate in infants (less than one year old) is 2 percent and this age group accounts for 96 percent of deaths due to pertussis. Fully one third of infants with pertussis require hospitalization. Antibiotics are not curative and are given primarily to reduce transmission from infected to uninfected individuals.
Last year, there were 35,435 cases of pertussis, the highest level seen since 2012. Of those, 7,689 (21.7 percent) were in children aged 6 months to 6 years. Of that age group, 5,696 (74.1 percent) were either unvaccinated, under vaccinated, or had an unknown vaccination status. That means that 25.9 percent of young children who contracted the disease were fully vaccinated.
This year's surge in cases so far is concentrated in Pacific, Mountain, and Midwestern states. The state of Washington leads the nation with 917 cases followed by Oregon with 617 cases and Michigan with 525 cases.
Texas, which is the epicenter of a large ongoing measles outbreak, has reported only 11 cases of pertussis thus far in 2025. This number is improbably low given that Texas reported 1,156 cases total and 108 cases by this point last year.
The overall numbers of pertussis cases have risen dramatically in the 21st century due to the impact of the anti-vaccination movement. Per CDC data, vaccination rates for pertussis were only approximately 80 percent of children 24 months old for the years 2010-2019. The CDC recommends vaccination rates of 95 percent to prevent transmission levels resulting in outbreaks.
Unlike measles vaccination, the childhood pertussis vaccinations do not provide lifelong immunity. Pertussis is combined with other vaccines, and the most common booster for adults is the tetanus, diptheria, and acellular pertussis or Tdap vaccine. According to CDC data, in 2019 only 43.6 percent of adults 18 years old or older received this booster. All adults are urged to insist on a Tdap booster if they have not received one in the last 10 years.
Since 2019, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a massive surge in anti-vaccination propaganda. Trump named one of the leading anti-vax charlatans, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, to the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, a clear signal of the intentional destruction of all public health programs.
Kennedy was previously chair of the Children's Health Defense organization, a notorious anti-vaccination outlet. Children's Health Defense until recently operated a website that appeared identical to the CDC's own site, logos and all, and contained anti-vaccine misinformation. The site was only taken down after the New York Times inquired about it and its associated social media posts.
As HHS secretary, Kennedy has continued his anti-vaccination and anti-science, anti-public health advocacy. He has downplayed the risks of measles, inflated the risks of the measles vaccine and other vaccines, and promoted quack treatments and preventatives for measles such as vitamin A and aerosolized budesonide.
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The net effect of these and other anti-vaccination propaganda campaigns is staggering. A recent KFF tracking poll found that 63 percent of adults overall and 61 percent of parents specifically were aware of the false claim that vaccines cause autism. The percentage of adults who had heard the false claim that the measles vaccine is worse than actually getting the measles increased by 15 percentage points in the last year alone, from 18 percent to 33 percent.
With respect to the false claim, "The measles, mumps, rubella vaccines, also known as the MMR vaccines have been proven to cause autism in children," 24 percent of adults believe it to be definitely or probably true. Another 41 percent of adults rate it as probably false and only 34 percent rate it definitely false.
Fully 25 percent of adults rate the false claim, "Vitamin A can prevent measles infections," as true, while 48 percent rate it as probably false and only 27 percent rate it as definitely false.
The sustained barrage of anti-science, anti-public health messaging on behalf of the ruling class is thus producing its intended effect, which is growing. The ruling class wants to eliminate the societal costs of manufacturing and administering vaccines, which are not profitable enough in the eyes of big pharma.
Here the irrationality of the profit system is on full display. The profit motive actually hinders the development and distribution of medicines that not only keep the workers healthy—whose labor is the source of all value—but keep the capitalists healthy as well.
The ruling class has no way out of these contradictions of capitalism, which are growing tenser day by day. The only solution is for the working class, on its own independent political program, to replace capitalist, for-profit medicine with socialized medicine, as part a broader struggle for a socialist economy that values human life over private profits.
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Whooping Cough Cases Double. Measles Still On The Rise. Vaccines Would Prevent Both.
As the country wrestles for control of an ongoing measles outbreak, cases of pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, are rising precipitously.
There have been 8,485 cases of whooping cough reported in the United States between Jan. 1 and April 19, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That's double the number of cases reported compared to the same time last year, signaling another tough year ahead with whooping cough. In 2024, the U.S. Reported 35,435 cases, the highest number in a decade.
Deaths caused by the infectious disease are also up, rising to 10 last year, with the majority of cases among infants, according to the 2024 Provisional Pertussis Surveillance Report.
New Jersey experienced a similar increase in whooping cough last year, causing the state health department to release an advisory in August warning the public. There have been 17 cases reported in the state between Jan. 1 and April 19 this year, according to provisional data from the CDC.
Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection, typically spread by sneezing or coughing. It can result in serious illness in people of all ages and can be life-threatening, especially in babies, according to the CDC.
Before there was a vaccine, public health experts reported more than 200,000 cases of pertussis annually. After widespread use of the vaccine began in 1948, the number of cases each year decreased.
After vaccination became widespread in 1958, cases of whooping cough began to decline.CDC National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System
During the 1980s, reports of whooping cough began increasing and reached a peak in 2012 with 48,277 cases, according to the CDC. Since then, reported cases remained elevated until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Recently, however, the U.S. Is beginning to return to pre-pandemic patterns where more than 10,000 cases are typically reported each year, according to the CDC.
It's hard to say exactly why, according to public health experts, but it's likely due to a combination of factors.
"It's probably partially driven by vaccine hesitancy because it is a vaccine preventable disease," said Dr. Daniel Ruderfer, chief of pediatric infectious diseases for Hackensack Meridian K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
Federal vaccination data shows that during the 2023-2024 school year, vaccination coverage among kindergartners in the U.S. Decreased for all reported vaccines from the year before, including the diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine and the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.
Waning immunity is another variable that could be contributing to the increase in cases, said Ruderfer.
The Tdap vaccine, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough, typically provides protection for about 10 years, according to the CDC.
After that time, the immunity wanes. However, that doesn't mean the vaccine is ineffective. People are still less likely to get sick with the vaccine than they are without it.
"The whole point of vaccination is not to prevent but to mitigate. If you're vaccinated, you shouldn't end up in the hospital," said Ruderfer.
Vaccination is the best way to help protect against whooping cough and any serious illness it may cause, according to public health experts.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The CDC does not currently recommend booster doses to maintain protection against pertussis. However, adults do need booster doses every 10 years to maintain protection against tetanus and diphtheria, according to the CDC.
"It's just not perfect the way other vaccines are in terms of longevity," said Ruderfer.
Whooping cough may also be prevalent right now simply because it is cyclical in nature. The infectious disease is considered endemic in the U.S. And peaks every few years, according to the CDC.
Vaccination remains the best way to prevent pertussis. New Jersey requires pertussis vaccination for all children entering the sixth grade who are at least 11 years old.
Pertussis is known as "whooping cough" because people make a whooping sound when gasping for air after a fit of coughing, according to the CDC. It can cause rapid, violent, and uncontrolled coughing fits until all air is gone from the lungs, lasting for up to 10 weeks or longer.
"The first symptoms are like the common cold such as sneezing, coughing, runny nose, and fever," the New Jersey Department of Health says on its website.
"However, within two weeks, the cough becomes more serious episodes of coughing spasms followed by a high pitched 'whoop' sound when the person tries to take a breath. Pertussis can be treated with antibiotics and prevented with a vaccine," the state health department says.
Public health experts advise anyone experiencing a prolonged cough without improvement to seek medical attention and ask their doctor to test for whooping cough.
Some people have mild symptoms and do not realize they have whooping cough, but they can still spread the bacteria that cause it to others, including babies, CDC says.
In 2012, the CDC began to recommend that women receive a Tdap vaccine with every pregnancy to protect the baby as soon as they are born, as newborn babies are at greatest risk.
To prevent the further spread of pertussis, residents should ensure they are up-to-date with routine vaccines, maintain good hygiene practices, and stay home when ill.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.Com.
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What If We Stop Vaccinating? Doctor Explains How Quickly Diseases Can Relapse
New Delhi:
Vaccines are one of the greatest, most affordable weapons in contemporary medicine, yet their reach is underappreciated. We now have vaccines that prevent over 30 potentially fatal diseases and enable individuals of all ages to live healthier, longer lives. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), immunisation prevents between 3.5 and 5 million deaths each year from illnesses like measles, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), and influenza. But what if this life-saving shield were suddenly removed? The consequences would be swift, severe, and far-reaching.
What could happen if we stopped vaccinating?
Dr Bhumesh Tyagi, Associate Professor, General Medicine, Sharda Crae Healthcity, Noida, said that diseases we have controlled or nearly eliminated could resurface rapidly, especially in today's interconnected world. If we stopped vaccinating, the world could face:
Quick revival of lethal diseases: Diseases such as measles, polio, and pertussis would come back rather quickly following the halt of vaccination programmes. (CDC, 2024). Increase in child deaths: Measles alone was responsible for more than 140,000 deaths in 2019, mostly among unvaccinated children under the age of five. Overloaded healthcare systems: Clinics and hospitals may become clogged with outbreaks of contagious diseases that can be prevented. Disruption of herd immunity: Newborns, the elderly, and those who are immunocompromised would be disproportionately at risk. International spread of outbreaks: A single unvaccinated tourist can make a local outbreak into an international public health crisis. Economic downturns: Health expenditures, lost productivity, and emergency response would put national economies under immense stress. Why preventing relapses matters
The germs that produce vaccine-preventable illnesses don't vanish; they persist, anticipating immunity deficits. Vaccines operate not only by shielding people but also by producing a community defence through herd immunity. When the defence becomes weak, even "eliminated" diseases can make a comeback.
For instance, measles, which was eradicated in many countries, has resurfaced in areas where vaccination coverage has decreased. Whooping cough and diphtheria have come back in populations where immunisation programmes have plateaued. Preventing relapses is not just about maintaining the status quo; it is about protecting future generations, preserving healthcare resources, and continuing the progress we have made in global health over the past century.
Vaccination for adults
Vaccination isn't limited to children; adults must remain current on their vaccinations as well. Although childhood vaccinations give one a solid foundation of immunity, the protection of some vaccines may eventually decline, and adults are also susceptible to various diseases that children are not. Recommended vaccines for adults include seasonal influenza (flu) shots annually; tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) booster doses; the shingles vaccine; the pneumococcal vaccine; and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines if they weren't vaccinated before or are not immune.
Some adults might also require vaccines against hepatitis A and B, HPV, meningococcal infection, or varicella (chickenpox), depending on their risk factors, lifestyle, or travels. Seeking advice from a healthcare professional is important in deciding on the right vaccination schedule for every individual adult to keep them safe from preventable diseases for life.
Vaccination is a collective responsibility
Vaccination is not just a personal health decision; it's everyone's responsibility. It guards against the most vulnerable, it shields communities, and it saves a million lives a year. Suspension of vaccination would not be a temporary setback but a step backward in progress. The message is simple: if infectious diseases are present, the requirement for vaccines is present. We cannot afford to cease vaccinating now, nor ever.
Disclaimer: (Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.)
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