U.S. sets Thanksgiving record for whooping cough cases

Source: CBS News

December 5, 2024 / 4:44 PM EST


At least 364 pertussis infections were reported to health authorities last week, according to figures published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the worst Thanksgiving week for whooping cough in recent decades.

This tops the previous Thanksgiving record of 228 cases of pertussis which were reported for the week ending Nov. 27, 2010. That year there were 27,550 cases reported by the end of 2010, below the 28,167 already tallied so far this year.

Thanksgiving usually sees a slowdown in cases reported across most diseases, because of delays in testing and reporting around the holiday as well as changes in people going to the doctor. But this year's whooping cough wave is continuing to accelerate in several states this week, including in Ohio, which reported 84 cases. That is the most of any state, and more than the 67 pertussis cases that Ohio reported in the week before.

"Pertussis can be cyclical. After seeing lower numbers of reported cases in the past few years — during and after the COVID-19 pandemic — nationally, pertussis is now returning to pre-pandemic trends. Ohio is no different," a spokesperson for Ohio's health department said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whooping-cough-record-thanksgiving-2024/