Texas Among States With Increased Cases Of Whooping Cough
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Whooping cough seems to be making a comeback in several states, including Texas.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some states have outbreak numbers not seen in 70 years.
Whooping Cough is a contagious respiratory tract infection that causes an often uncontrollable coughing. Infants and young children are particularly susceptible to the infection, which can be deadly.
Chris Van Deusen, with the Texas Department of State Health Services, says most children in the United States get immunized starting at two months old.
"We also recommend that anybody with a newborn… parents be vaccinated, grandparents, anybody whose gonna be around that child," he said.
A current Whooping Cough is crippling Washington state with more than 1,100 cases reported there so far this year.
There's also been an increase in cases in Texas.
"There's an outbreak in Bell County right now," Van Deusen said. "They're seeing more cases than you would expect. We saw in Texas kind of a peak in pertussis cases a couple of years ago. In 2009 we had about 3,300 cases in Texas."
In 2010, the most recent year that statistics are available, that number dropped to 935 cases.
Anyone believed to have Whooping Cough or is experiencing symptoms started out cold-like with a mild fever and after a few weeks progressed severe coughing, should call their doctor, a nurse, the local health department or the Texas Department of State Health Services, Immunization Branch at (800) 252-9152.
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