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About Pertussis Outbreaks (Whooping Cough)

Pertussis is an endemic (common) disease in the United States, with peaks in disease every 3 to 5 years and frequent outbreaks.

In 2010, 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported—and many more cases go unreported.

The primary goal of pertussis outbreak control efforts is to decrease morbidity (amount of disease) and mortality (death) among infants; a secondary goal is to decrease morbidity among people of all ages.

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Pertussis outbreaks can be difficult to identify and manage.

Other respiratory pathogens (germs) often cause symptoms similar to pertussis, and co-circulation with other pathogens (bacterial and viral) does occur.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are commonly used to diagnose pertussis, vary in specificity—the ability to correctly confirm individuals who do not have pertussis.

Therefore, getting confirmation with culture (a lab test where the bacteria are grown) for at least one suspicious case is recommended any time there is suspicion of a pertussis outbreak.

(Reuters) - Whooping cough has reached epidemic proportions in Texas and could hit a 50-year high, a health official said on Thursday.

Nearly 2,000 cases of whooping cough have been reported in Texas this year. Two infants, who were too young to receive the whooping cough vaccine, have died, state officials said. The number of cases likely will surpass the recent high of 3,358 in 2009, according to the state health services department.

"We're clearly having an epidemic," said Dr. Carol Baker, the director of the Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.

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