There have been 11,720 cases of whooping cough in 2025, as of the week ending on May 24.
This comes after whooping cough rates soared to surpass pre-pandemic levels last year.
Ten people died from whooping cough in 2024, most of them being less than a year old.
There have also been measles outbreaks along with whooping cough outbreaks across the country as childhood vaccination rates drop.
Increased scrutiny of childhood vaccines — credited with saving millions of people from deadly diseases — figures prominently in the report.
Under the presidency of Donald Trump, a new epidemic is developing.
According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whooping cough, also known as pertussis, has been increasing in the United States. For vulnerable groups, such as those under a year old, the highly contagious respiratory disease can be fatal and causes severe coughing fits that can result in vomiting or broken ribs.
As of the week ending May 24, there have been 11,720 cases of whooping cough in 2025. This comes after last year’s whooping cough rates skyrocketed to levels higher than those before the pandemic.
According to an expert who spoke to The New York Times, the rise in whooping cough is a result of both people not being exposed to the disease during the pandemic and declining childhood vaccination rates. Bordetella pertussis, a type of bacteria that causes whooping cough, can thicken the airways.
According to a Times analysis, CDC data indicates that children’s whooping cough vaccination rates have decreased recently, despite the fact that the disease can be prevented by vaccination.
Everyone should get vaccinated against whooping cough, according to the CDC, but infants under one year old are particularly at risk for serious complications. In 2024, whooping cough killed ten people, the majority of whom were under a year old.
According to the CDC, children usually receive the first dose of the vaccination to protect them from diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. Adults should get a booster shot roughly every ten years to protect them from tetanus and pertussis.
Additionally, experts advise pregnant women to get the vaccine in order to give their unborn child immunity.
Whooping cough cases are on the rise as vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in command of the U. A. Trump’s Health and Human Services Department. Kennedy is well-known for his divisive views on vaccinations and has asserted that they cause autism without supporting data.
Scientists cautioned that with Kennedy heading the country’s top health department, the number of vaccine-preventable disease cases could increase. In addition, as childhood vaccination rates decline, measles and whooping cough outbreaks have occurred nationwide.
This comes after Kennedy frequently questioned vaccines, as evidenced by his “Make America Healthy Again” report, which experts claim was produced using inaccurate or deceptive citations.
Increased scrutiny of childhood vaccines, which are said to have prevented millions of deaths from diseases, is a major theme in the report. It raises concerns about the need for vaccination requirements for admission to schools and recommends that vaccines be subjected to additional clinical trials, including ones using placebos.
Kennedy has long questioned the safety of vaccines, despite the fact that over 1,000 Americans have been afflicted by a measles outbreak. The health department of Kennedy made a move last week to restrict U. A. availability of COVID-19 vaccinations.
This report included contributions from the Associated Press.
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