YuLin Zhen, Photography Editor

Whooping cough cases are over five times higher than this time last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis. While cases decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, relaxed precautions are leading to an increase in infections. 

“Whooping cough was once a very common childhood infection and an important cause of infant mortality,” Dr. Madeline Wilson, an internal medicine doctor and the chief campus health officer, told the News. 

Pertussis begins like a common cold but can progress to severe coughing fits, often followed by a “whoop” sound with intake of breath. In adults, pertussis may present as a chronic cough lasting up to two weeks. For infants, it’s much more serious.

“Often young infants do not have the classic cough, or ‘whoop’; the infection causes apnea — where the baby has pauses in breathing,” Dr. Maryellen Flaherty-Hewitt, a professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine, told the News. 

She noted that up to 20 babies per year have died from pertussis in the United States since 2010.  Older children and adults can also have some complications from pertussis such as pneumonia, but these complications tend to be less severe in immunocompetent and vaccinated individuals. 

While cases have waned, Wilson said, “This year the CDC reports that cases are at a 10-year high, likely due to both reduced childhood vaccination rates (due to increased exemptions) and post-pandemic trends.”

Dr. Eugene Shapiro, professor of pediatrics and epidemiology, said that measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, like “distancing, masking [or] washing hands to try to reduce transmission of COVID knocked out a lot of other common diseases.” With these practices in place, contagious respiratory diseases like flu, RSV and pertussis declined.

Now that most pandemic-era restrictions have been retracted, infectious respiratory diseases like pertussis are again on the rise.

At Yale Health, Wilson and her team track the increasing pertussis cases across the country and in Connecticut. She reported that, to date, there have been no undergraduate cases at Yale.

Dr. Scott Roberts, an assistant professor of medicine, said, “The congregate dormitory settings could facilitate more rapid spread,” but Yale students are “most likely to be healthy vaccinated young adults” and should not be concerned.

Regardless, the doctors the News spoke to insisted that everyone should stay up-to-date with their Tetanus, Diphtheria and acellular Pertussis vaccine — commonly abbreviated to Tdap. 

“While [Yale students] may not have significant complications from a pertussis infection, it is highly contagious and can put more vulnerable individuals around them at risk for significant illness,” Flaherty-Hewitt said. 

According to Scott, anyone who is concerned should double-check their vaccine status, and make sure they received a booster dose in the past 10 years.

While the Tdap vaccine does not fully prevent infection, it does reduce the chances of getting severe disease. 

The CDC recommends adults get their Tdap booster every 10 years.