1696470

Whooping cough, or pertussis, was once a leading cause of death for children in the U.S. and worldwide before the introduction of vaccines in the 1940s. In the decades since, the bacterial disease was nearly eradicated in the U.S., with fatalities falling to double digits each year. But the disease has made a troubling comeback in recent years as vaccine coverage declined after the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, several outbreaks left public health officials and hospitals scrambling to accommodate a sudden influx of patients, primarily infants, who are often too...