Cases of whooping cough have increased about six-fold since the same time period last year, according to new data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a recent update.
As of Dec. 14, the last data available, more than 32,000 cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, have been reported across the United States, according to the CDC’s update on Dec. 20.
The data show that more than “six times as many cases have been reported as of week 50 … compared to the same time in 2023,” the CDC said in a separate statement on Dec. 19. “The number of reported cases this year is higher than what was seen at the same time in 2019, prior to the pandemic.”…