DAILYMAIL.COM – Alabama and North Carolina have joined the list of states battling outbreaks of a Victorian era-disease that has been rocking the US for months.
There are now 123 cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, in Alabama and 525 cases in North Carolina.
The illness, which is caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, leads to violent coughing, fever, sore eyes and blue lips. In severe cases, this can lead to vomiting, exhaustion and problems breathing, and is fatal in about one percent of babies who catch the bug.
In the spring, an outbreak began nationally that tapered over the summer, only to pick back up in August – and doctors fear the illness may increase even more heading into cold and flu season, as more viruses weaken immune systems and people are forced indoors with cold weather.
Thus far, 2024 has seen five times the amount of cases as 2023 – with more than 16,000 Americans infected, according to an October update from the CDC. There have been two confirmed deaths.
The most cases have been detected in Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, California, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts and Arizona.
Public health officials mainly blame this rise on a lag in vaccination rates since the pandemic.
The CDC recommends children get three vaccinations against the virus, called the Tdap shot, before age one. This shot is 98 percent effective at preventing disease in children within the year following vaccination.
In Alabama, the cases were detected at high schools in Trussville and Springville, as well as at the University of Alabama Huntsville, in central and northern areas of the state.
Whooping cough cases have increased in the state 300 percent over the past year – increasing from 41 people to 123 people, according to a report from the Alabama Department of Public Health …
More than 200 cases of whooping cough reported in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Officials with the Arkansas Department of Health have reported more than 200 cases of whooping cough in the state.
ADH officials said the number is at least five times higher than the number of cases reported last year, with most of the recent cases occurring in school-aged children and teenagers.
Arkansas seeing record-setting tuberculosis case numbers
More than 30 counties have reported at least one case this year, health officials said …
