Dr. Paul Cieslak, OHA senior health advisor and medical director, Communicable Diseases and Immunizations program, answered today’s question.
Q: What is the incidence of pertussis (whooping cough) in Central Oregon right now in May-June compared to previous years? – Teri, Bend
A: “We don’t yet have data summarized for May or June, but for January through April this year Oregon has reported 16 cases of pertussis, nine of them in residents of Lane County. Only one of them was in a resident of Central Oregon (Jefferson, Crook or Deschutes County—in this case Deschutes County in April). Statewide, cases are up in 2023, perhaps attributable to relaxation of COVID restrictions.
Prior to 2023 the number of pertussis cases for all three Central Oregon counties combined have been at or near zero for a couple years. Going further back, for the years 2014-2020, Crook and Jefferson counties consistently reported low pertussis case numbers (0-4 per year), while Deschutes County (with its larger population) reported higher numbers, peaking with 72 in 2019.
Pertussis is endemic in the United States, with occasional epidemics, such as in 2012 in Oregon when we had 910 reported cases in a single year, the most since 1953. Vaccination against it is effective, but the immunity wanes after just a few years. Most important is protecting infants, who are most likely to suffer severe disease from it. For that reason, vaccination of mothers during pregnancy is recommended—so that mom can pass antibodies to baby across the placenta before birth. Then infants are vaccinated with “DTaP” -- diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine -- at 2, 4, and 6 months, with boosters at 15-18 months and another booster before starting school. A single vaccination with a different formulation (“Tdap”) is recommended for non-pregnant adolescents and adults 10 years of age and older.
This data can be found on OHA’s Monthly Communicable Disease Surveillance Report. You can search data for other communicable diseases in Oregon as well, by month, year or county, going back to 2014.
If you have questions about health topics in Oregon, submit your question here. While we are unable to answer every question, we try to address questions that may be of interest to a broader audience. Please understand we are unable to provide specific medical advice for personal medical conditions.
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