Whooping cough cases in Pittsburgh area at highest point in nearly a decade, doctors say

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Whooping cough is making a post-pandemic comeback in Allegheny County and around Pennsylvania.

Allegheny County doctors are seeing cases climbing to their highest point in nearly a decade.

Acting Director of the Allegheny County Health Department Dr. Barbara Nightingale told KDKA-TV that the spike in cases is concerning, and there are things you can do to protect yourself and your family.

"We're seeing almost 10 times the cases in 2024 already compared to the past couple of years," Dr. Nightingale said.

According to pertussis case data for Allegheny County, there were 226 cases in 2012 and 155 in 2014, the two notably higher years. After 2014, case numbers kept dipping and nearly disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, whooping cough is back. The county is now up to 87 cases for 2024. It only had 19 at the end of May. Cases have topped 1,120 statewide, up from the 601 cases Pennsylvania had in May.

"A lot of the cases that we're seeing now are due to some of the changes with the prevention we took during COVID, similar to other respiratory viruses. We saw this really drop off of all respiratory in the pandemic, and those have started all to creep back," Dr. Nightingale said.

She said health officials are seeing the hundred-day cough in children all the way up to older adults, with the average age being teenagers. The highly contagious bacterial infection reached classrooms before summer break.

"A lot of the cases that we had were still occurring at the end of the school year, and also it can be contagious for a number of weeks afterward," Dr. Nightingale said.

According to the Allegheny County Health Department, whooping cough is especially dangerous for babies, people with weak immune systems and children who haven't had all recommended vaccines.

Dr. Nightingale said it's time to see a doctor when a child or adult has been in contact with someone who's been diagnosed or has symptoms.

"Things that are particularly concerning is a cough that's lasting more than two weeks, or a cough that's so severe that the child ends up vomiting after they're coughing. Their lips are turning blue, they're not able to breathe. And then sometimes you get the very classic whooping sound after coughing when you take a deep breath," she said.

Dr. Nightingale said the rise in cases is alarming for several reasons and that whooping cough can even be deadly. But it's also preventable.

"The disease itself can be very severe. It can lead to people being hospitalized, and you can even die from it. Also, it's very treatable with antibiotics, and we have vaccines that also can prevent people from getting it in the first place," Dr. Nightingale said.