It’s been a record-breaking year for whooping cough, and we still have three and a half months to go. State Epidemiologist Theresa Sokol says through the first eight months of this year, Louisiana has confirmed 379 whooping cough cases.
“This is close to double the previous high number of cases that have been experienced over the past 35 years. And that occurred in 2013 when we had 214 cases,” Sokol said.
Sokol says 61 people have been hospitalized with whooping cough this year, with 70% of them being under the age of one. Sokol says over the last couple months, cases have started to subside.
“We had slightly fewer cases in June and July, compared to the number of cases that we recorded in May. And in August, there seems to be an even larger decrease, Sokol said.
Sokol says part of the reason why we’ve had so many cases of whooping cough this year is because of increased awareness.
“Because there’s been increased awareness of these whooping cough increases being experienced by Louisiana in other states, it’s also likely that more testing is being performed and more cases are being detected,” Sokol explained.
Sokol says the best way to prevent whooping cough is for expectant mothers to get vaccinated against the disease with each pregnancy.
