SICK NOTES

Texas Whooping Cough Cases Rocket as Vaccination Rates Plunge

The vast majority of the sick patients are children.

Children in Texas are becoming infected with whooping cough at an alarmingly high rate, coinciding with a noticeable decline in childhood vaccinations across the Lone Star State. A health alert issued by the Texas Department of State Health Services revealed that more than 3,500 cases of the contagion, also known as pertussis, had been recorded so far this year. That is roughly four times the number recorded at the same time last year. Around 85 percent of those infected are children, the department revealed, pointing to a decline in vaccination levels as a reason for the surge. “We’re seeing more pertussis cases now than we have in over a decade, and it’s not just numbers on a chart,” said Janeana White of the Texas Medical Association. “It’s real kids, real families, and preventable loss.” CDC data shows 92.1 percent of kindergarteners were vaccinated against whooping cough in the past year, compared to 95 percent before the pandemic. A similar spike was noticed in Florida earlier this year, as cases of whooping cough also began to surge following a downtick in vaccination rates.