Kentucky is seeing an 'unusually high uptick' in pertussis, known as whooping cough; Lexington outbreak grows to 24 cases

Kentucky doctors and the state Department for Public Health "are seeing an unusually high uptick in whooping cough," or pertussis, Louisville's WDRB reports. "Immunity for vaccination or natural infections wanes over time, so people who are fully vaccinated can still get whooping cough. Doctors said the vaccine lessens the severity and will likely keep someone out of the hospital."

Kentucky had 84 confirmed cases of pertussis in 2023, and 66 confirmed so far in 2024, said Brice Mitchell, spokesman for the department. That works out to just under two cases a week last year, and just under three cases a week so far this year. 

Seven more cases of pertussis were confirmed in Lexington last week, bringing the total to 21 since April 26. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department declared a pertussis outbreak on May 20. UPDATE, June 9: The department confirmed three more cases, bringing the total to 24.

Most of Kentucky's cases have been in school-age children, but some been in infants and adults, WDRB reports.

"It's not unusual to actually see whooping cough; however, the numbers that are being seen, that is definitely unusual, " Dr. Mark Burns of the University of Louisville told WDRB. "It's usually not that prevalent as it is right now."

The state is part of a spotty national trend. Clusters of pertussing cases have also been reported in Oregon and wetsren Pennsylvania. Through May, about 5,000 cases had been reported in the U.S., more than double the number for the same five months in 2022.

"Rates of whooping cough, like those of some other infectious diseases, declined soon after the start of the pandemic, as people wore masks and practiced social distancing, precautions that many have ceased," The Washington Post reports, quoting experts. "But during the early months of the pandemic, when people feared being exposed to the coronavirus in a doctor’s office, some children may have missed vaccination appointments, leaving them vulnerable to future infections."

C. Buddy Creech, director of the Vanderbilt University Vaccine Research Program and a pediatric infectious-disease researcher for 20 years, told the Post, “This is still a terrible, terrible disease, one we’d do well to protect against.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says pertussis cases are returning to “pre-pandemic patterns,” more than 10,000 cases a year. The Post reports, "From January 2023 through May 25, 2024, whooping cough caused 15 deaths in the United States, though the CDC declined to say how many of those deaths occurred this year," indicating that the number is less than 5.

"England has also reported a substantial increase in whooping cough cases in the first three months of 2024, including the deaths of five infants," the Post reports. "Although the disease is best known for its toll on babies, the infection can cause serious illness in people older than 65, including rib fractures and significant pneumonia, Creech said."