ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – With the return of cold temperatures and Thanksgiving gatherings comes the risk of the flu, colds, and this year—a rise in whooping cough cases.
“Nationwide, I think the numbers are six times higher than 2023,” Dr. Bobby Shah, St. Luke’s Medical Group Pulmonary, said. “Last we checked, Missouri as a whole was seven times higher than 2023.”
According to the CDC, outbreaks of this contagious respiratory illness are frequent and can occur in schools and childcare centers, hospitals, and large geographic areas.
The numbers come as the U.S. is beginning to return to pre-pandemic patterns.
“Pertussis numbers always go up and down,” Senior Epidemiologist and Supervisor of the Communicable Disease Program for St. Louis County Amanda Brzozowski said. “But we didn’t have an outbreak during the pandemic. Everybody was masked up and staying socially distant, so they didn’t get pertussis…now, we’re getting back to that baseline but it’s something we haven’t seen in about 10 years.”
In Missouri, there have been 540 pertussis cases year to date in 2024. Across the river in Illinois, 1,713 cases of whooping cough year to date
Nationwide, 25,174 cases have been reported by the CDC.
“The cough isn’t a regular cough you have,” Brzozowski said. “They’re called peroxisomes. They tend to be at night–doesn’t come with a fever or other symptoms.”
The best way to prevent pertussis, or whooping cough is through vaccination.
“Whooping cough isn’t going anywhere. People still need to be vaccinated and get their vaccines. But it’s definitely something to think about every winter,” Shah added.