Idaho health authorities have released a warning about a steep increase in cases of a highly contagious Victorian-era disease.
Two public health organizations joined together to warn citizens of the Gem State that cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough, are 17 times higher this year than last year.
There have been 171 cases thus far- the majority of which have occurred in children, who are particularly susceptible to the disease.
It can can cause ‘violent coughing fits’ that last for months, as well as fever, difficulty breathing and congestion.
This illness, which was common in the 1900s, had been previously controlled by vaccination – but Idaho has emerged as the state with the lowest uptake of all recommended vaccines the US in recent years.
Pertussis spreads from person to person via droplets in the air from coughing or sneezing. Once in the body, the bacteria multiples and releases toxins into the respiratory system that cause tissues to swell, leading to the cough characteristic of the condition
Lekshmi Venugopal, an epidemiologist at Idaho’s Southwest District Health, said: ‘We are deeply concerned by the significant increase in pertussis cases across Southwest Idaho this year’.
In the entirety of 2023, there were only 10 cases in the state – representing a 1600 percent increase in cases, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Thus far, 117 cases have been reported in Ada county in the Southwestern part of the state, which includes its capitol, Boise.
Canyon County, directly to the west of Ada, reported 49 cases.
About 67 percent of these cases have occurred in people under 19.
‘Whooping cough, though it may start like a common cold, can lead to prolonged illness and severe complications, particularly in infants and those with existing health conditions,’ Dr Venugopal said.
Pertussis is a bacterial infection that spreads from person to person through the air by respiratory droplets.
Symptoms appear about a week after the initial infection, after the bacteria attaches to tiny hairs in the throat and nose and begin releasing toxins which cause airways to swell, according to the CDC.
Early on, this causes runny or stuffy nose, low grade fever and a mild cough – but can progress into violent coughing fits that result in vomiting, exhaustion and problems breathing.
‘Those who get these coughing fits say it’s the worst cough of their lives,’ the CDC’s website detailed.
About one percent of babies who catch the bug die.
The illness is preventable – through vaccination – and treatable – through antibiotics.
However, Idaho routinely ranks amongst the lowest in the nation for childhood vaccination.
In the 2022-2023 school year roughly 81 percent of Idahoan kindergarteners met federal public school requirements for vaccinations – the lowest percentage in the nation, where the average rate is 93 percent.
The above map shows the state by state rates of vaccination exemptions for the 2022-2023 school year, highlighting the top five states with the highest percentages of exemptions for all mandatory school vaccinations
The state also has the highest percentage of kindergartners applying for exemption from vaccines, at about 12 percent, compared with a national average of 3 percent.
Public health authorities consistently promote vaccination, which they say slash rates of the pertussis drastically. These vaccinations protect about 98 percent of children in the year since their last dose, according to the CDC.
In the 1900’s, whooping cough was one of the common childhood diseases- before the vaccination became widely available in the 1940’s, the number of cases has decreased more than 90 percent.
US health authorities recommends every person gets two series pf shots to protect against the illness – one set of DTaP in infancy and one of Tdap around age 11.