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CDC: Whooping cough cases spreading twice as fast this year compared to last year

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Published  May 6, 2025 10:12pm EDT
Health
FOX 13 News
Rise in whooping cough cases

Rise in whooping cough cases

Jordan Bowen reports.

The Brief

    • Doctors are warning parents that there's a rise in "whooping cough" cases.
    • Some said vaccine hesitancy is partly why there are nearly double the number of cases of whooping cough this year than there were at this time last year.
    • According to the CDC, there's been more than 9,000 cases of whooping cough reported in the U.S. this year.

TAMPA, Fla. - With school almost out for the summer, kids may soon be headed to camp. Doctors are warning parents there's a rise in "whooping cough" cases, and some said vaccine hesitancy is partly why there are nearly double the number of cases of whooping cough this year than there were at this time last year.

Why you should care:

"Whooping cough, it's very deceiving in the beginning," Dr. Rosa Taveras with AdventHealth said.

RELATED: Whooping cough on the rise again: What parents need to know in 2025

That's because whooping cough usually starts with symptoms similar to a common cold, like sneezing, a runny nose or mild cough.

"One to two weeks and you should start to get better, but instead of getting better, it's actually becoming worse and then becomes that typical whooping kind of cough," Taveras said.

By the numbers:

According to the CDC, there's been more than 9,000 cases of whooping cough reported in the U.S. this year. That's compared to the 4,700 cases reported at this time last year, which is almost double the amount. 

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What they're saying:

Taveras said vaccine hesitancy could be partly to blame.

"Unfortunately, the vaccines rates have gone significantly down in the past few years, and that contributes to the spread of the disease," Taveras said. "The fact that maybe those kids that in the beginning of the pandemic did choose not to vaccinate now, are starting to go to like schools, so they're more susceptible to those disease, and then they spread."

Dig deeper:

Data from the CDC shows that before the pandemic about 95% of kindergartners were vaccinated against whooping cough. Last year, that number dropped to 92%. 

Whooping cough usually peaks in the spring and fall, and it's spread through respiratory droplets in the air when people with infection cough. The CDC recommends the vaccine to be given to preteens and teens between 11 and 12, then a booster every 10 years after that.

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"I would say to the parents, be on a high alert whenever you see that really common call that is kind of driving for a little bit longer than usual and having that intensity over the days instead of like a recovery towards the end of that initial illness that I would say go to your pediatrician," Taveras said.

Local perspective:

When it comes to Florida, data from the Florida Department of Health shows a major rise in recent years, going from 85 cases in 2023 to more than 700 cases in 2024. So far, this year there's been 132 cases of whooping cough reported in the state.

The vaccine is required in Florida for children to enter school. According to the Pew Research Center, about 3% of children were homeschooled in the U.S. pre-pandemic. Now, that number is around 6%, which could explain partly why vaccine rates have dropped in recent years.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jordan Bowen. 

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