Whooping Cough News and Research

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Whooping Cough is a serious bacterial infection of the lungs and breathing tubes that spreads easily. Whooping cough begins like a cold, but develops into severe coughing and gasping for air. Long spells of coughing may cause vomiting, and broken blood vessels in the eyes and on the skin. Also called pertussis.

Whooping cough cases rise sharply across the United States

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a vaccination-preventable illness that has been on the rise in the United States. Following a several-year lull during the pandemic, cases of whooping cough rose sixfold in 2024 and remain high.

18 Dec 2025

In RFK Jr.’s upside-down world of vaccines, panel votes to end hepatitis B shot at birth

Recent weeks have brought good news about vaccines, with studies indicating that flu vaccination reduces heart disease, shingles vaccines can prevent or slow dementia, and a single human papilloma virus shot protects a girl from cervical cancer for the rest of her life.

5 Dec 2025

Kennedy sharpens vaccine attacks, without scientific backing

As the federal government prepares for the next meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has intensified his attacks on aluminum vaccine components used in many shots to boost the body's immune response.

24 Nov 2025

Waning immunity and falling vaccination rates fuel pertussis outbreaks

Rates of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, are surging in Texas, Florida, California, Oregon, and other states and localities across the country.

20 Nov 2025

Expert panel recommends new antibiotic strategies for resistant Bordetella pertussis

Pertussis, or whooping cough, remains a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by Bordetella pertussis. Despite inclusion of pertussis vaccines in immunization programs since the 1970s, outbreaks have re-emerged globally due to waning immunity and bacterial evolution.

19 Nov 2025

Groundbreaking vaccination approach could transform respiratory disease prevention

A research team from Trinity College Dublin has unveiled a groundbreaking new approach to vaccination that could redefine how we protect against respiratory infections.

10 Nov 2025

Louisiana took months to sound alarm after two babies died in whooping cough outbreak

When there's an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, state health officials typically take certain steps to alert residents and issue public updates about the growing threat.

4 Nov 2025

Doctors muffled as Florida moves to end decades of childhood vaccination mandates

Florida plans to end nearly a half-century of required childhood immunizations against diseases that have killed and maimed millions of children. Many critics of the decision, including doctors, are afraid to speak up against it.

27 Oct 2025

Experts urge vaccination during pregnancy to prevent infant whooping cough deaths

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is on the rise and incidence now exceeds pre-pandemic numbers. While in adults and older children the cough can be bothersome and last for months, pertussis in young infants can be life-threatening.

3 Oct 2025

$Kennedy’s take on vaccine science fractures cohesive national public health strategies$

Kennedy’s take on vaccine science fractures cohesive national public health strategies

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has had a busy few months. He fired the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, purged the agency's vaccine advisory committee, and included among the group's new members appointees who espouse anti-vaccine views.

19 Sep 2025

Watch: Fired CDC chief says RFK Jr. demanded she roll back vaccine policies without evidence

Susan Monarez, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Sept. 17 in her first public remarks since she was fired.

17 Sep 2025

Sharp rise in pertussis hospitalizations highlights need for timely vaccination

Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, is a vaccine-preventable disease which continues to circulate even in areas where vaccination coverage is high, and outbreaks may still occur. A study published in Eurosurveillance and conducted at Meyer Children's Hospital in Florence, Italy, has found a sharp increase in hospitalisations for pertussis among children and adolescents (patients aged 16 years or under) in 2024.

29 Aug 2025

‘Alternative facts’ aren’t a reason to skip vaccines

President Donald Trump's administrations have been notorious for an array of "alternative facts" — ranging from the relatively minor (the size of inaugural crowds) to threats to U.S. democracy, such as who really won the 2020 election.

14 Aug 2025

Childhood and adolescent immunizations decline in Michigan, study shows

Routine childhood and adolescent immunizations declined in Michigan between 2017 and 2023, particularly among counties with lower household income and higher uninsurance rates, a new study suggests.

11 Aug 2025

Fearing Medicaid coverage loss, some parents rush to vaccinate their kids

For two decades, Washington, D.C., pediatrician Lanre Falusi has counseled parents about vaccine safety, side effects, and timing. But this year, she said, the conversations have changed.

28 Jul 2025

Over 14 million children miss lifesaving vaccines threatening global goals

More than 14 million children missed out on lifesaving vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough last year, putting global goals off track, new UN data shows.

22 Jul 2025

A Texas boy needed protection from measles. The vaccine cost $1,400.

In the early days of the West Texas measles outbreak, Thang Nguyen eyed the rising number of cases and worried. His 4-year-old son was at risk because he had received only the first of the vaccine's two doses.

30 Jun 2025

Slashed federal funding cancels vaccine clinics amid measles surge

More than a dozen vaccination clinics were canceled in Pima County, Arizona.

9 Apr 2025

New antibody research sparks hope for better whooping cough vaccines

Whooping cough, or pertussis, was once a leading cause of death for children in the U.S. and worldwide before the introduction of vaccines in the 1940s.

7 Apr 2025

U.S. consumers still unaware of raw milk risks despite bird flu findings

Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) located H5N1 bird flu virus in samples of raw, or unpasteurized, milk in tests in four states in April 2024, and bird flu has been detected in commercially sold raw milk, many Americans do not know that consuming raw milk and its products poses greater health risks than consuming pasteurized milk and its products, especially for children.

14 Mar 2025