The disease known to hospitalize children continues to spread in Michigan

More than half of infants who contract pertussis require hospitalization.

Once their condition has deteriorated enough to require medical care, there is not much doctors can do to treat them or speed recovery. Instead, they provide supportive care, limit the spread and wait for the disease to run its course, said Dr. Francis Darr, a pediatrician in Marquette.

“The key, again, is not so much treatment as prevention and avoiding infection in the first place,” Darr said.

Michigan is seeing its highest number of pertussis infections in a decade. As of Dec. 8, the state health department has reported more than 1,500 cases, more than double the average of 596 cases from 2017 to 2019.

Public health leaders are urging families to make sure they’re up to date on vaccinations before the holiday season. Doctors and health leaders held a call with reporters Thursday morning, Dec. 12, to voice their concerns and advocate for increased vaccination.

“We recently cared for several infants for vaccine-preventable diseases in the Upper Peninsula, including some with pertussis,” Darr said. “We have the opportunity to do better with vaccination; to provide better information and work with parents to improve the health of their children and the health of our communities.”

Pertussis is also known as whooping cough because of the sound its uncontrollable coughing fits can make for months after an infection.

“It was something where you’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking you weren’t going to breathe, and it went on for months,” said Veronica McNally, founder of the Franny Strong Foundation. Her three-month-old daughter Francesca died of whooping cough in 2012, setting her on a path of advocacy for vaccination against preventable diseases.

The disease may look like a common cold in the first days after infection. Babies and young children may not cough at first and instead have pauses in breathing that can make their skin appear bluish and cause difficulty breathing. In a few days, these can turn into uncontrollable coughing fits.

After exposure, symptoms can last five to 10 days, health officials said. This, along with the similarity of symptoms to other infections, can sometimes delay detection.

Bacteria can spread through droplets released from coughs and sneezes. The most susceptible populations are infants, young children, and people with chronic health conditions.

Residents can protect themselves against severe illness from whooping cough with the recommended DTaP vaccine. Doses are recommended for babies at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months and 15 months, as well as pregnant women.

The pertussis vaccine reduces infections by up to 80 percent for children and reduces the chance of severe illness in cases of pertussis, according to Ryan Malosh, director of the Michigan Division of Immunizations.

About 83 percent of Michigan children receive their first dose of the DTaP vaccine by age 3 months, according to the most recent state data. However, only 65.5% of 19-month-olds received all four recommended doses.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the DTaP vaccine for adults who did not receive a dose as a teenager or adult.

Adults can also get a booster (TDaP) every 10 years to combat declining immunity and help protect the vulnerable children in their lives. For more information, visit CDC website.