The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new alert this week, sharing that whooping cough cases have risen in the United States compared to last year.
As of Thursday of last week, the CDC shared that there have been 14,569 confirmed cases of whooping cough so far this year, four times as many as there were last year when doctors confirmed 3,475 cases.
While experts and officials are blaming the rise in cases on vaccines missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, many are now wondering what symptoms they should be keeping an eye on.
According to the CDC, the disease typically kicks in around a week after people are first exposed to it by another person.
Symptoms include difficulty breathing that comes after experiencing consecutive coughs.
Those at the highest risk of contracting whooping cough, also known as pertussis, are babies younger than one year old. The agency warned they have the highest risk of developing “severe” complications after contracting the disease.
Around a third of babies younger than a year old who contract whooping cough end up being hospitalized as complications can include developing Apnea and Pneumonia.
While the nation’s youngest children are often the most affected, the CDC has warned that teens and adults have also seen an increase in cases.
“We’ve been seeing increasing amounts of disease occurring in adolescents and the adult population because they’re not getting vaccinated like they should,” Dr. Tina Tan, president-elect of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told NBC News.
In July, the CDC said that the country’s whooping cough cases are returning to pre-pandemic levels, as masking is believed to have helped play a role in reducing infections. However, hesitancy and misinformation about vaccines have also sparked the resurgence of whooping cough, according to Tan.
“With the increase in vaccine hesitancy that has been going on since the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re seeing outbreaks occurring in kids who are not vaccinated,” Dr. Tan said.
The CDC reports that there were 291 cases reported during the week of Sept. 14, with New York, excluding New York City, having the most cases with 44, followed by Oklahoma with 40, Ohio with 39, and Pennsylvania with 38.