Baby dies of Victorian disease making alarming comeback in US

A baby has died in Alaska from whooping cough, the result of a deadly revival of the disease dating back to Victorian times.

The medical term for this bacterial infection is whooping cough. It was a common childhood disease in the early 20th century. But the advent of a vaccine in the 1940s virtually eradicated the disease in America.

But record numbers of minors are going unvaccinated, leading to outbreaks in several states, including Alaska, where authorities say the disease has reached “epidemic” proportions.

Details about the deceased child, including gender, name and place of birth, have not been released to protect the family’s privacy.

Babies under three months are at particularly high risk for whooping cough (stock image)

Whooping cough can cause severe coughing fits that last for months, as well as fever, breathing problems and congestion.

The vaccine is usually given to babies when they are two months old, but pregnant women can get it in their last trimester to pass on immunity to their babies. Children would then need to get a booster every 10 years.

Without these boosters, immunity gradually decreases and these children become more susceptible to the bacterial infection.

State epidemiologists blame weakened immune systems and vaccine hesitancy in the wake of the Covid pandemic for the highest number of infections since 2016.

But shortly after the deaths were reported on September 11, health authorities again urged the public to vaccinate their babies and vaccinate their older children.

In the US, an average of more than 10,000 cases are reported each year and about 20 babies die from it.

As of Friday, the number of cases in 2024 was 234, according to CDC tracking. Trend lines suggest this year’s final total could surpass 2023’s, which was 624.

This year, up to and including week 33, August 17, 2024, more than four times as many cases of whooping cough have been reported as in the same period in 2023.

State epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin said about 70 percent of the cases have been children under 15, and 12 percent have been infants. Of that 12 percent, Dr. McLaughlin said, 45 percent have been hospitalized.

He told Talking about Alaska on Tuesday: ‘And just for comparison: in 2016, 149 cases were reported, which was the highest number in the past eight years.’

The ‘whooping cough’ sound refers to the sound children make after a coughing fit when they have difficulty breathing.

Pertussis cases have increased particularly sharply in infants under one year of age. Parents are encouraged to have their babies vaccinated around two months of age

The bacteria Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis cause infection by attaching to the tiny hair-like structures that line the upper respiratory tract, including the nasal passages, sinuses, throat, and larynx.

There the bacteria release toxins that damage the hair-like structures and cells in the airways.

Mucus builds up, the airways swell and the body tries to clear the mucus by coughing violently, the hallmark symptom of an infection.

The infection is highly contagious and spreads through the air when someone coughs, sneezes and talks. It is more contagious than the flu and in a population that is not sufficiently vaccinated, one case can lead to 17 others within about three weeks.

The current number of cases in Alaska is the highest recorded in the state in the past nine years

Life-threatening complications are most common in infants under one year of age. About one-third of infected infants end up in hospital.

Sixty-eight percent of babies have sudden pauses in breathing, also called apnea, and 22 percent get pneumonia. One percent die.

Doctor McLaughlin said: ‘The vaccines currently available for whooping cough are very effective, especially in the first three to five years after vaccination. But after that, immunity gradually decreases.’

According to Kathy Bell, the Anchorage School District’s health director, more than 1,200 students out of approximately 44,000 exempt from vaccination requirements, mainly for religious reasons.

She said: ‘It’s an individual choice. We can’t force people to get vaccinated. But they were developed for a reason.’

The rising number of new whooping cough infections is not limited to Alaska. This year alone, the U.S. has recorded more than 7,000 cases of whooping cough, an increase of 300 percent over the same period in 2023.

In 2024, Pennsylvania and California had the most cases, 1,035 and 702, respectively.

This year, cases have been reported in every US state except Wyoming.