Some 339 cases of Whooping Cough have been reported in Tennessee through the first six months of this year, 25 in the Upper Cumberland.
Dr. Don Grisham is the Tennessee Department of Health’s Regional Medical Director for the Upper Cumberland. Grisham said whooping cough is a bacterial respiratory infection most common in infants. Grisham said cases have increased significantly since 2022.
“People are more reluctant to get normal childhood vaccines,” Grisham said. “The outbreaks that we’ve seen are typically with children who are not vaccinated or have only one of the vaccinations.”
Grisham said that the infection can be serious, especially in the elderly and babies. Grisham said about a third of babies end up in the hospital due to whooping cough, and about one percent of the infected die from whooping cough complications.
Grisham said some of the whooping cough complications include pneumonia, seizures, and infection of the brain. He said the symptoms mirror that of the common cold.
“They can last for sometimes weeks,” Grisham said. “They can have a runny nose, coughing, fever. Some people have that whooping sound when they cough due to narrowing of the broncheal tubes. Many babies who have whooping cough don’t cough at all, but they’ll just stop breathing with it.”
Grisham said the illness is relatively uncommon in Tennessee, as only 39 cases were reported in 2022. In 2023, that number jumped up to 80 cases, and it increased to 389 cases a year ago. Grisham said the best and only way to prevent the whooping cough is by vaccination.
“It’s a very effective vaccine,” Grisham said. “Typically for young children, the vaccine is given at two months, four months and six months. And then, it’s given throughout a person’s life. As an adult, you can receive the Tdap vaccine at least once.”
The Tdap vaccine is administered to adolescents between the ages of 11 and 12. It may also be given to pregnant women between the 27th and 36th week of a pregnancy, or to adults who have never received the vaccine.
Grisham said whooping cough has an effective antibiotic treatment. Grisham said Azithromycin is the go-to antibiotic, though alternatives exist for those who are allergic to it.
Grisham said if a child is diagnosed with whooping cough, it can be very contagious for the rest of the family. He said other family members may also be given treatment because of their exposure to the disease.