LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Figures from the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services show that whooping cough cases are setting records in the state.
Whooping cough (pertussis) is at a 15-year high of 469 cases since Jan. 1. This is higher than 2024’s 391 cases, itself more than 10 times higher than 2023’s case count of 38.
Whooping cough is at a decade-high level in US
The highest number of pertussis cases in the state previously was in 2013, when 464 cases were recorded.
The Arkansas group most affected is children aged 10 to 19, at 30.9%, followed by children under 1 year old at 19.8% and children aged 5 to 9 at 15.8%. White non-Hispanics are the most likely to become infected, with a relatively even 51% to 49% split between males and females, according to ADH data.
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ADH officials said the best way to prevent pertussis is vaccination. The disease is highly transmissible but can be treated with the right antibiotics, they added…