This topped the previous Thanksgiving record of 228 cases of pertussis reported for the week ending November 27, 2010. This year, 27,550 cases were reported by the end of 2010, down from 28,167 so far this year.
Thanksgiving typically sees a slowdown in reported cases of most diseases, due to delays in testing and reporting during the holiday, as well as a shift in people going to the doctor.
But this year A wave of whooping cough Several states continued to accelerate this week, including Ohio, which reported 84 cases. That’s the most of any state, and more than the 67 pertussis cases Ohio reported the week before.
“Pertussis can be cyclical. After the past few years — during and after the COVID-19 pandemic — saw a low number of reported cases nationally, pertussis is now returning to pre-pandemic trends. “Ohio is no different,” said an Ohio spokeswoman. The Department of Health said in a statement.
An Ohio spokeswoman said this year’s increase was “consistent with previous years.” The Covid-19 pandemic“And still tops the total number of cases reported in 2013.
While total cases nationwide are below some previous records, the pace of weekly reported cases reached 577 before Thanksgiving – more than 10 times the same time last year, and the worst in at least a decade.
Health officials have issued a citation. Various factors This year’s wave of whooping cough cases, including reduced immunity from vaccination or prior infection and the move to safer but less effective vaccines in the 1990s.
“We have to admit that our vaccination rates in Montgomery County for school-age children are low. They’ve dropped since the pandemic, and they’re lower than the state of Ohio, and lower than the United States. ,” said Dr. Becky Thomas, medical director of the Montgomery County Health Department in Ohio.
Within Ohio, Montgomery County accounted for the largest share of reported cases in recent months, though not the most in the state.
Thomas said about 63 percent of his cases are in school children and 12 percent are in daycares. The department often finds out about outbreaks from school nurses, warning of large numbers of children getting sick with whooping cough.
Thomas said Doctors have Months are seeing more pertussis cases, higher than the wave they saw last year.
“We had an increase in cases last fall, but nothing compared to this fall. And the first time we saw a really significant increase was around the time the kids went back to school. So about the middle of August,” Thomas said.
Thomas said the majority of reported cases in the county said they had been vaccinated for pertussis, though it’s unclear if everyone was up to date on the shots. A third of the cases are among teenagers, who are Recommended Received booster dose up to 12 years of age.
“We have specific data on vaccination records for entering seventh-graders that show the vaccination rates for tetanus, pertussis that they should have entered school,” Thomas said. , has declined.”
This year’s increase in whooping cough comes even as the health department is scrambling for a comeback. Expected tide COVID-19 and flu infections this winter.
“Whooping cough isn’t the only respiratory disease we’re concerned about. So we’re encouraging people to stay home when they’re sick, practice good hand hygiene, if they need to.” So see your health care provider, said County Health Commissioner Jennifer Wentzel, if symptoms are worsening or severe, and of course get vaccinated.