Posted on October 6, 2005.
Before the vaccine was introduced in the 1940’s, whooping cough was one of the leading causes of infant mortality. It still kills almost 300,000 children annually worldwide. Even with today’s medical prevention and treatment advances, anyone found to have contracted whooping cough (pertussis) is quarantined, and those who may have been exposed are usually given a round of antibiotics and quarantined as well.
By the 1980’s, the average annual total cases of pertussis in the United States was only 4,400. But, that’s on the rise again. In fact, Dr. Margaret Cortese, a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Immunization Program, says there were 18,957 reported cases of pertussis in the United States in 2004, up from 9,784 in 2003. In addition to those who are immuno-surpressed, infants who are not old enough to be fully immunized are at risk of dying from pertussis; 19 of the 20 deaths attributed to pertussis in the U.S. last year were infants.
Source, more information:
Enduring and Painful, Pertussis Leaps Back
By KATE MURPHY
The New York Times, February 2005
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Pammy is the main character in two comic strips by 
A professional writer since 1984, Pamela Rice Hahn is the author of more than 20 published books.