If you’ve read or watched the news lately, you may have heard about an increase in pertussis, or “whooping cough,” infections. Several states are now reporting new cases, including West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island and Maine.
The good news? California had a large outbreak of pertussis in 2010, which we wrote about on the Get Ready Blog. Hoping to control the outbreak, state health officials launched a big effort to educate and vaccinate people of all ages — and their hard work paid off! The California Department of Public Health announced last week that the number of pertussis cases dropped by more than two-thirds last year (dropping from 9,154 cases in 2010 to 2,795 cases in 2011). And even better, there were no reported deaths from pertussis in 2011.
To read more from this post, visit the blog from APHA’s Get Ready Campaign.
2 comments
NBanton says:
Feb 1, 2012
I’ve noticed that sometimes adults don’t think they need the booster shot for pertussis. While adults may not get really sick, they can pass it on to kids, who can die. My doctor told me to get my booster, so I did. I’m proud to be protecting myself as well as kids in my community.
Kathy B. says:
Feb 2, 2012
The outbreak in California a few years back was a real wake-up call for many people. We need to keep vigilant at vaccinations and boosters. We can’t be complacent about immunizations.