PADUCAH — Right now, pertussis or whooping cough is on doctors’ radar as cases are on the rise. CNN reports cases are at the highest they’ve been in a decade with 32,000 cases reported nationwide this year.
Whooping cough is a respiratory illness. Its symptoms can mimic the common cold. The illness starts with a runny nose, sneezing, a low-grade fever and a tickly cough. What sets whooping cough apart is a full body cough that can develop after one to two weeks after contracting.
In Paducah, Baptist Health Paducah has seen some of these cases.
“In the last few years, I had not seen whooping cough, and then this year is the first time that we’ve started to see it again. Since for probably 10 years,” said pediatrician Caitlyn Cecil.
She feels that the cause of this uptick is lack of willingness to vaccinate.
“Vaccines are a victim of their own success… The No. 1 thing that I think is probably contributing is the increase in vaccine hesitancy and the increase in vaccine refusal. I mean, we rely on vaccines to prevent whooping cough,” she said
Cecil’s fear is mostly for babies — that’s because the illness could be life-threatening. She has noticed recently more and more often parents are opting out of vaccinating their children.
“A lot of people don’t fear these diseases anymore, but you know, let’s remember that pertussis kills babies, and people should fear these diseases. Vaccines are safe, they are effective,” she said.
There are ways you can protect yourself and your children from whooping cough — the No. 1 thing is to get vaccinated. Also, make sure to practice good hygiene.
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