Whooping Cough in Various Parts of U.S

(NECN/NBC News: Nancy Snyderman) - Whooping cough is the kind of illness that we think of as being a thing of the past, but there's a big outbreak going on right now in Washington state, and it is putting lives at risk.

With the birth of her daughter fast approaching, Heidi Bruch ignored her cough, dismissing it as a cold.

But at two weeks old, her newborn daughter, Caroline, began to show similar symptoms.

"I was nursing her and she started to have one of these coughing episodes. She kind of, you know, she stopped nursing and she turned blue and was coughing and choking and gagging."

It was whooping cough, passed to Caroline from her mother.

That signature cough is easily heard here in this March of Dimes public service announcement

Caroline recovered and is now one of the growing number of cases in an alarming outbreak in Washington state.

"So far this year, 640 cases have been reported and confirmed, as of March 31st. Last year we had 94 in the same period of time," said Washington state secretary of health Mary Selecky.

And four of those children have died.

Northern California, Oregon and Vermont are also experiencing similar outbreaks.
For health officials, it's all about childhood vaccination and booster shots as adults.

“People think that once you get your baby shots and you don't need to be vaccinated again,” said Dr. William Schaffner of Vadnerbilt University’s department of preventative medicine. “That's false because immunity can wane. You may get a diminished disease, one that's less serious, but you can still transmit the infection in all of its virulence to other susceptible people.”

Bruch had been vaccinated as a child but didn't know she had to follow up with a booster later in life.

“I had inadvertently given our, my newborn a potentially life threatening illness that was so easily preventable by getting my booster shot, which I was unaware I needed,” she said.

It's about the immune compromised. While you won't get sick, it's about protecting those who can't get the shot.
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