Whooping cough is on a trajectory that public health officials are watching with alarm. CDC surveillance data through Week 21 of 2026 confirm 4,598 cases of pertussis confirmed nationally — with summer barely underway, and case counts historically continuing to rise through September.
Two children have died from whooping cough in 2026. Deaths from pertussis are almost exclusively concentrated in infants under 12 months who have not yet completed the primary DTaP vaccination series — the age group most biologically vulnerable and the age group that depends on the immunity of vaccinated people around them for protection.
