Six more whooping cough cases reported in Lexington; pediatrician urges vaccinations and boosters

The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s weekly whooping cough update shows six new cases, bringing the total since April 26 to 38. Dr. Elizabeth Hawse is a pediatrician in Lexington. She said at her practice, they’ve treated multiple people with pertussis – the medical term for the disease.

“A lot of them are people that have been vaccinated, which is great because they're minimally symptomatic, meaning they've got this lingering cough, and they come in because they're not sure why they have this lingering cough.”

Hawse is a vocal advocate of immunizations against a disease that hospitalizes more than half of the babies six months and younger who contract it.

“We're all going to the grocery we're going to Home Depot, Lowe's, you know, people have young babies that they take in there, and you don't want to expose, you know, I don't want to be the reason someone's two-month-old is hospitalized.”

Hawse recommends that people check their vaccination status with their doctor’s office and said if that’s not possible, they can go to the online Kentucky Immunization Registry and create an account.

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