{"id":112997,"date":"2024-10-11T17:53:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T10:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112997"},"modified":"2024-10-11T17:53:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T10:53:45","slug":"u-s-whooping-cough-outbreak-is-the-worst-in-a-decade-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112997","title":{"rendered":"U.S. whooping cough outbreak is the worst in a decade : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"storytext\">\n<div id=\"resg-s1-27550\" class=\"bucketwrap image large\">\n<div class=\"imagewrap has-source-dimensions\" data-crop-type=\"\" style=\"&#10;        --source-width: 5315;&#10;        --source-height: 3543;&#10;    \">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5315x3543+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2Fbb%2F6f430c114afb98f2434d41793605%2Fimagebrokervax.jpg\" class=\"img\" type=\"image\/webp\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5315x3543+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2Fbb%2F6f430c114afb98f2434d41793605%2Fimagebrokervax.jpg\" data-format=\"webp\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5315x3543+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2Fbb%2F6f430c114afb98f2434d41793605%2Fimagebrokervax.jpg\" class=\"img\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5315x3543+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2Fbb%2F6f430c114afb98f2434d41793605%2Fimagebrokervax.jpg\" data-format=\"jpeg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5315x3543+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2Fbb%2F6f430c114afb98f2434d41793605%2Fimagebrokervax.jpg\" class=\"img\" alt=\"The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted peoples ability to get vaccinations for other infectious diseases, including pertussis\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5315x3543+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2Fbb%2F6f430c114afb98f2434d41793605%2Fimagebrokervax.jpg\" data-format=\"jpeg\"\/>\n        <\/picture>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit-caption\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrap\">\n<div class=\"caption\" aria-label=\"Image caption\">\n<p>\n                The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted some peoples ability to get vaccinations for other infectious diseases, including pertussis<br \/>\n                <b class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                    imagebroker\/Alamy<\/p>\n<p>                <\/b><br \/>\n                <b class=\"hide-caption\"><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b>\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <b class=\"toggle-caption\"><b>toggle caption<\/b><\/b>\n    <\/div>\n<p>    <span class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><\/p>\n<p>        imagebroker\/Alamy<\/p>\n<p>    <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Whooping cough is spreading nationwide at the highest levels since 2014. There have been more than <a href=\"https:\/\/wonder.cdc.gov\/nndss\/static\/2024\/39\/2024-39-table990-H.pdf\"><u>16,000 cases<\/u><\/a> this year \u2014 more than four times as many compared to the same time last year \u2014 and two confirmed deaths. And experts are concerned that the outbreak could worsen in the fall and winter months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore children are going back to school now, [which leads to] greater exposure,\u201d said Dr. Eric Chow, the chief of epidemiology and immunization at the Seattle and King County public health agency. \u201cWe\u2019re coming up on the kind of winter season when people are spending more time indoors with other people.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside id=\"ad-backstage-wrap\" class=\"ad-wrap backstage\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The disease is most dangerous to babies: 1 in 3 who get it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/pertussis\/signs-symptoms\/index.html\"><u>require<\/u><\/a> hospitalization.<\/p>\n<p>Whooping cough cases are especially high right now on the West Coast.<\/p>\n<p>King County, where Seattle is, has seen more this year than any year since 2015 \u2014 \u201cand the year isn\u2019t even over yet,\u201d Chow said. He said the county is still seeing new cases of whooping cough every week.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"edTag\">Why the big outbreak now?<\/h3>\n<p>Experts say there are a number of possible explanations for the size of the current outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>Doctors are testing for whooping cough more, so they\u2019re identifying more cases.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s possible that the bacterium that causes the disease has mutated.<\/p>\n<p>Also, people got behind on their vaccines during the pandemic, and they haven\u2019t caught up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the challenges that we have with [the vaccine that protects against whooping cough] is that it is a five-dose series over the course of the first six years of a child\u2019s life, so it does require regular visits to the primary care,\u201d Chow said.<\/p>\n<p>And, Chow said, not everyone can get to the doctor regularly.<\/p>\n<p>But access isn\u2019t the only problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere still is a lot of vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaxers out there that will not vaccinate their kids,\u201d said Dr. Tina Tan, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Northwestern University and the president-elect of the Infectious Disease Society of America.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"ad-secondary-wrap\" class=\"ad-wrap secondary\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>For the first couple of weeks, whooping cough looks like a mild cold, but then the coughing fits start.<\/p>\n<p>Babies who get it \u201care going to be whooping when they cough,\u201d Tan said. \u201cAnd they may cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, and then look like they&#8217;re not breathing at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tan said those pauses in breathing are life-threatening, and a sign that it\u2019s time to go to the hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Whooping cough can also lead to pneumonia and other complications.<\/p>\n<p>But babies can\u2019t get their first dose of the vaccine that protects against whooping cough, also called pertussis, till they\u2019re 2 months old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s important for pregnant women to get the pertussis vaccine when they\u2019re pregnant,\u201d Tan said, \u201cso that you can protect your baby for the first two months of life until they\u2019re old enough to be vaccinated themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even before the pandemic, only about half of pregnant women got the pertussis vaccine. Now, that number is even lower.<\/p>\n<p>In King County, of the 12 babies who have been seen with whooping cough this year, none of their mothers got the shot during pregnancy.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"edTag\">Vaccine fears, and confidence<\/h3>\n<p>Dr. Chow, with Public Health-Seattle &amp; King County, said that\u2019s a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes you require a kind of sit-down conversation with the patient who may be a little bit more hesitant or may have encountered misinformation,\u201d he said, \u201cso it just requires a longer time to build trust and rapport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also, not all obstetrician\/gynecologists offer the vaccine in their offices, and some people don\u2019t have the bandwidth to go to a pharmacy for a shot.<\/p>\n<p>At a playground in Seattle\u2019s White Center neighborhood, Kay said she has two kids, ages 12 and 4, and she\u2019s always been hesitant about vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>Kay declined to give her last name because she\u2019s concerned about revealing private medical information.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"ad-third-wrap\" class=\"ad-wrap third\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWith COVID, it even made it even more scary, because everybody started coming out saying, \u2018The COVID shot\u2019s not actually good for you,\u2019\u201d Kay said. \u201cSo I was like, \u2018Maybe the other vaccines are bad too.\u2019 And then I went down the rabbit hole of looking up kids who have supposedly gotten vaccinations and passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Experts say vaccines are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccines-children\/about\/index.html\"><u>very safe<\/u><\/a> and can prevent diseases that once killed or harmed many babies, children, and adults.<\/p>\n<p>Kay eventually got her 4-year-old daughter the shots required for daycare but nothing else.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s hard for me to get childcare, and it&#8217;s just easier for me to say, \u2018OK, just give me whatever she needs, just to get her into school,\u2019\u201d Kay said.<\/p>\n<p>So her daughter did get the required whooping cough vaccines \u2014 but not any COVID shots, which are not mandated.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Sittinghorse was at the same playground with his 3-year-old daughter. He said the pandemic had the opposite effect on his thoughts about vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt opened up my eyes to how important they are,\u201d he said, \u201cand so now, I&#8217;m a believer in vaccines. It&#8217;s important, even if it&#8217;s not for yourself, but for everybody around you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sittinghorse said he saw on the news that there\u2019s a whooping-cough outbreak right now, and it worries him a little \u2014 but not too much, because he and his family are up to date on their vaccines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/10\/10\/nx-s1-5127422\/whooping-cough-outbreak-u-s-seattle\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted some peoples ability to get vaccinations for other infectious diseases, including pertussis imagebroker\/Alamy hide caption toggle caption imagebroker\/Alamy Whooping cough is spreading nationwide at the highest &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112997\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}