Oklahoma Sees Surge In Whooping Cough Cases As Vaccination Rates Drop

Healthcare professionals in Oklahoma saw more than 30 times the amount of ‘Whooping Cough’ cases in 2024 than in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Whooping Cough, also known as Pertussis, is a sickness characterized by three stages of lingering, cold-like symptoms. 

The first stage can include a runny nose, coughing, and fatigue.

The second stage is when the whooping cough symptom appears. "The 'whooping' from Whooping Cough is when you inhale; you usually have to take a really big, deep breath, and then you cough cough, cough, cough, cough,” said John Putman, M.D., a Physician at OU Health.

The third stage is an intermittent cough that can linger for months. “Really, anybody can get it. The older you are, the less serious it is,” Dr. Putman explained.

The Whooping Cough can be dangerous in younger people. "The vaccine works fairly well. so we vaccinate at two, four, [and] six months. You get a booster dose at 15 to 18 months and then again at four years old," Dr. Putman added.

Dr. Putman explained that the sickness is not very common in the United States, but doctors attribute the rise in cases to a drop in vaccinations. “As we have more and more people not vaccinating, that one person can infect, you know, 10-20 other people and then it can kind of explode out from there," he said, adding that vaccinating against Pertussis can protect infants who can't be vaccinated. “Whether they have cancer, immunodeficiency, or they're just younger than two months old," Dr. Putman shared.