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Whooping cough wave is still accelerating nationwide. Here’s what to know about symptoms and treatment.
A wave of whooping cough infections is continuing to worsen nationwide, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests, with weekly reported cases now accelerating to the highest levels seen in the U.S. for years.
At least 259 pertussis cases were reported during the first week into August, the CDC now tallies, up from 215 weekly cases towards the end of June.
Pennsylvania has reported 1,489 cases so far this year, the most of any state. New York has reported the next largest total of cases, at 1,266 infections.
The increase comes as CDC officials have been warning for months of a return to the pre-pandemic trends of the illness. Whooping cough is caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, which had plummeted to record lows during the COVID-19 pandemic, likely due to more people at the time wearing masks and staying home from schools and offices.
So far this year, a total of more than 10,000 pertussis cases have been reported by health departments. By mid-June, total cases this year reached more than triple what they were compared to the same time last year.
Reported cases this year are also now higher than they were right before the pandemic, which had reached around 8,000 cases by early August of 2019.
Why are whooping cough cases accelerating?
Many diseases that spread from person-to-person through the air like pertussis saw rates of infections drop during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s likely mitigation measures used during the pandemic (e.g., masking, remote learning) lowered transmission of pertussis,” the CDC said in July.
That interrupted what had been signs that pertussis rates were starting to trend up again, after dropping from a previous peak in 2012.
“The increase in pertussis that we are observing continued right up through the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, after which we saw the dramatic decline in reported pertussis, which was similar to trends in other nationally notifiable diseases,” Tami Skoff, a CDC epidemiologist, said at an April event hosted by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
A number of factors were behind the gradual increase in pertussis cases before the pandemic, Skoff said, like better rates of diagnosing and reporting infections.
Another reason may trace back to the switch in the 1990s to a safer type of vaccine, known as “acellular” shots, whose protection lessens over time.
“We believe one of the driving factors and one of the largest contributors is waning protection from acellular pertussis vaccines,” Skoff said.
Skoff said the CDC’s vaccine experts do not currently plan to revisit the topic of pertussis vaccines, after deciding against booster recommendations for the 2012 surges. But new vaccines could result in changes to the agency’s guidance, she said.
“There are vaccines moving forward in the pipeline. Hopefully in the next few years, we’ll have vaccines with longer duration of protection available,” she said.
What are the symptoms of whooping cough?
Doctors typically divide whooping cough into at least three stages, which start with an initial onset of symptoms similar to the common cold, like cough and runny nose. Symptoms typically set in around a week after the patient was first exposed to another person who was contagious.
The cough worsens for up to six more weeks, often into the characteristic “whooping” sound, which occurs as patients struggle to breathe after bursts of rapid coughs to try to expel mucus building up in the body’s airways.
That can result in the skin turning blue or purple, because of the lack of oxygen in their body, and vomiting afterwards.
The symptoms can look different depending on the age of the patient. Infants are at the greatest risk of severe pertussis, with the highest rates of hospitalizations.
While vaccines and better treatments have prevented the thousands of childhood deaths pertussis used to cause each year early during the 20th century, severe cases can result in complications like pneumonia and neurologic issues, especially in infants.
How is whooping cough treated?
Antibiotics can be effective at reducing whooping cough’s severity, especially if started early during an infection, the CDC says. They can also be given to at-risk close contacts of pertussis cases to prevent them from getting sick.
Doctors can test patients with symptoms using a swab pushed deep into the nose. Those tests are most accurate when done within the first three weeks of the cough, the CDC says.
“In the setting of waning immunity and we are seeing more and older individuals and oftentimes I’ll hear from clinicians, we don’t think about pertussis in older individuals or they come to healthcare much later when some of the diagnostic tests aren’t accurate,” Skoff said.
Testing is not always needed to start patients on antibiotics, especially if they are at risk of severe disease. People diagnosed with pertussis can be given antibiotics like azithromycin for up to five days to treat infections, though it does not guarantee that people will see faster relief from their symptoms.
“Antibiotics are intended to prevent transmission of pertussis to others and do not shorten the disease course or improve symptoms,” doctors said in an article published by the American Academy of Family Physicians, citing a review of 13 trials.
Legislation to expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans passed the U.S. Senate early Saturday and is now headed to the desk of President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign the measure into law.
Senators voted 76-20 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million people, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers and others with a public pension, from collecting their full Social Security benefits. The legislation has been decades in the making, as the Senate held its first hearings into the policies in 2003.
“The Senate finally corrects a 50-year mistake,” proclaimed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, after senators approved the legislation at 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
The bill’s passage is “a monumental victory for millions of public service workers who have been denied the full benefits they’ve rightfully earned,” said Shannon Benton, executive director for the Senior Citizens League, which advocates for retirees and which has long pushed for the expansion of Social Security benefits. “This legislation finally restores fairness to the system and ensures the hard work of teachers, first responders and countless public employees is truly recognized.”
The vote came down to the wire, as the Senate looked to wrap up its current session. Senators rejected four amendments and a budgetary point of order late Friday night that would have derailed the measure, given the small window of time left to pass it.
Vice President-elect JD Vance of Ohio was among the 24 Republican senators to join 49 Democrats to advance the measure in an initial procedural vote that took place Wednesday.
“Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. You pay into it for 40 quarters, you earned it, it should be there when you retire,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who lost his seat in the November election, told the chamber ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “All these workers are asking for is for what they earned.”
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — that reduce Social Security payments to nearly 3 million retirees.
That includes those who also collect pensions from state and federal jobs that aren’t covered by Social Security, including teachers, police officers and U.S. postal workers. The bill would also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for those workers’ surviving spouses and family members. The WEP impacts about 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and the GPO nearly 800,000 retirees.
The measure, which passed the House in November, had 62 cosponsors when it was introduced in the Senate last year. Yet the bill’s bipartisan support eroded in recent days, with some Republican lawmakers voicing doubts due to its cost. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed legislation would add a projected $195 billion to federal deficits over a decade.
Without Senate approval, the bill’s fate would have ended with the current session of Congress and would have needed to be re-introduced in the next Congress.
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Saturday is the winter solstice and 2024’s shortest day. Here’s what to know about the official start of winter.
The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial event signifies the first day of winter, astronomically.
What is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice is the day each year that has the shortest period of daylight between sunrise and sunset, and therefore the longest night. It happens when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, a line of latitude that circles the globe south of the equator, the National Weather Service explains.
The farther north you are, the shorter the day will be, and in the Arctic Circle, the sun won’t rise at all.
How is the day of the winter solstice determined?
The winter solstice occurs because of the Earth’s tilt as it rotates around the sun.
When the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, the nights last longer. The longest night happens on the solstice because the hemisphere is in its furthest position from the sun. That occurs each year on Dec. 21 or 22.
This year, it falls on Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m ET, to be precise.
On the summer solstice, when the northern tilt is closest to the sun, we have the longest day, usually June 20 or 21.
National Weather Service
The solstices are not always exactly on the 21st every year because the earth’s rotation around the sun is 365.25 days, instead of 365 even.
Will days start getting longer after the winter solstice?
Yes. Each day after the solstice, we get one minute more of sunlight. It doesn’t sound like much, but after just two months, or around 60 days, we’ll be seeing about an hour more of sunlight.
When will winter officially be over in 2025?
The meteorological winter ends on March 20, 2025. Then, spring will last until June 20, when the summer solstice arrives.
How is the winter solstice celebrated around the world?
Nations and cultures around the world have celebrated the solstice since ancient times with varying rituals and traditions. The influence of those solstice traditions can still be seen in our celebrations of holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Britannica notes.
The ancient Roman Saturnalia festival celebrated the end of the planting season and has close ties with modern-day Christmas. It honored Saturn, the god of harvest and farming. The multiple-day affair had lots of food, games and celebrations. Presents were given to children and the poor, and slaves were allowed to stop working.
Gatherings are held every year at Stonehenge, a monumental circle of massive stones in England that dates back about 5,000 years. The origins of Stonehenge are shrouded in mystery, but it was built to align with the sun on solstice days.
Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images
The Hopi, a Native American tribe in the northern Arizona area, celebrate the winter solstice with dancing, purification and sometimes gift-giving. A sacred ritual known as the Soyal Ceremony marks the annual milestone.
In Peru, people honor the return of the sun god on the winter solstice. The ancient tradition would be to hold sacrificial ceremonies, but today, people hold mock sacrifices to celebrate. Because Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere, their winter solstice happens in June, when the Northern Hemisphere is marking its summer solstice.
Scandinavia celebrates St. Lucia’s Day, a festival of lights.
The “arrival of winter,” or Dong Zhi, is a Chinese festival where family gathers to celebrate the year so far. Traditional foods include tang yuan, sweet rice balls with a black sesame filling. It’s believed to have its origins in post-harvest celebrations.
Researchers stationed in in Antarctica even have their own traditions, which may include an icy plunge into the polar waters. They celebrate “midwinter” with festive meals, movies and sometimes homemade gifts.