The United States is experiencing its worst outbreak of whooping cough in a decade and Montana's largest city is seeing a sharp increase in cases.
The Yellowstone County Health Department announced they’ve confirmed 11 cases as of Nov. 3 compared to one case between 2020 and 2023. Six of the 11 were detected in November.
Those numbers feed into the current statewide total of 108 which, according to Department of Public Health and Human Services spokesperson Jon Ebelt, falls in line with the average non-outbreak year but reflects an increase from the low rate seen during the height of COVID.
RiverStone Health Deputy Health Officer and pediatrician, Megan Littlefield, said a shift away from COVID-era health precautions could be affecting the county’s typical rise and fall of the illness as more people return to school or travel maskless. Another contributing factor could be a few years of decreased doctor visits and vaccination.
“We know in general vaccination dropped during COVID and part of that was related to just access, right? So, there wasn’t as much access to healthcare, people weren’t going into their routine well-child visits or well-adult visits,” said Littlefield.
Infants under 6 months old, the elderly and immunocompromised people are especially vulnerable to serious complications and hospitalization from the respiratory illness, which is characterized by fits of coughing.
Littlefield said immunity wanes after the first four years following vaccination, “which is why it’s so critical that young children get vaccinated because they’re the ones who are most at risk for serious illness.”
She recommends children get all 5 vaccinations during their early childhood years and a booster around the ages of 11 or 12. Adults should get vaccinated every 10 years, and if pregnant, get boosters towards the end of their terms to communicate those antibodies to their babies.
