WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — Whooping cough cases are racing across the country. The U.S. has seen five times more cases in 2024 than we did at this time last year. That includes a resurgence in the DMV.
“So whooping cough is caused by the pertussis bacteria. It’s actually a vaccine preventable disease. And I really didn’t think I would see a lot of pertussis again, given the fact that we have a vaccine available for our little ones. We start vaccinating against pertussis at the age of two months. Those vaccines continue through until the age of four years,” said said Dr. Yolandra Hancock, a pediatrician at Generational Health Center in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Through December 14, the Center For Disease Control and Prevention reports more than one-thousand cases in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland in 2024. There were only about 150 cases in 2023…