MINNEAPOLIS— Minnesota has the highest number of whooping cough cases in eight years.
The state health department is reporting more than 1,000 cases of respiratory infection so far this year. Last year there were only 61 cases.
Of the more than 1,019 cases of whooping cough this year, the latest numbers from the Minnesota Department of Health show the vast majority — about 37% — are in Hennepin County.
Meanwhile, the University of Minnesota has fewer than 10 reported cases. This week, the university sent a message to students on how they can protect themselves.
“Every few years, I would say six to eight years, we see an increase in whooping cough rates,” said Dr. Liz Placzek, pediatrician and medical director of Children’s Minnesota’s West St. Paul clinic. “And this just happens to be that year.”
She said the disease can start like a cold, but the difference is that whooping cough is a cough that persists and worsens.
The only way to treat whooping cough is with antibiotics. If left untreated, it can cause pneumonia, infections and even death.
While the whooping cough vaccine is given during childhood, Placzek says adults should get a booster every ten years.
“We’re really seeing it in people who are a little bit removed from their last dose of that vaccine, that their immunity has probably waned a little bit and so they’re more susceptible to getting that infection,” Placzek said.
Although the majority of cases have occurred in vaccinated people, Victor Cruz, a senior epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health, says the vaccine can still reduce the duration and severity of symptoms.
“The number of hospitalizations in Minnesota is very, very low,” Cruz said. “Thanks in particular to vaccination and also good treatment and identification of cases by healthcare providers.”
Placzek said being proactive is key to lowering the number of infections.
“Cover your cough, wear your mask and know good hand hygiene,” she said.
She also said to contact your doctor or your child’s pediatrician if you have any questions about their vaccination status.
