Whooping cough
Whooping cough infections in Michigan are currently on track to be more than double what they have been in recent years, health experts have warned.
According to the Times Herald of Port Huron, 595 cases of whooping cough have been reported to the Michigan Department of Community Health since January. A total of 902 cases were reported last year, up from an average of approximately 330 cases a year from between 2003 and 2008.
To fight the growing rate of infections, the Chicago Tribune reports, adults who work with children have been urged to seek a booster vaccine against whooping cough.
"You don’t think that a little germ can kill you," Justine Springborn, whose three-month-old child Collin died from whooping cough in February, told the Chicago Tribune. "But if you are not protected, it will."
Collin Springborn’s death is the only reported death from whooping cough in Michigan so far this year.
Infants and children are the most at risk from whooping cough, with more than half of all children under one year of age who contract the virus needing hospitalization, state officials told the Chicago Tribune.
To protect children, adults who regularly come into contact with children should get the booster vaccine Tdap. Additionally, immunizations can fade over time, requiring booster shots.
