Oregon whooping cough cases on track to beat state record

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon health officials are alarmed over the state's rising pertussis case count, which is expected to beat the state's record, Oregon Health Authority announced Thursday.

OHA is urging Oregonians to get vaccinated against pertussis, also known as whooping cough, as the state is on track to surpass its record of 910 cases by the end of 2024.

As of Wednesday, Oregon has seen 827 cases in 23 counties, OHA said, noting at least one person, an older adult, has died from the disease.

In 2012, Oregon reported its record 910 whooping cough cases, which at the time marked the highest annual count since 1953, officials said.

“I’m worried, given the time of year, because people are attending indoor holiday gatherings, and those gatherings often include newborns who are too young to be vaccinated,” said Paul Cieslak, medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations at OHA’s Public Health Division.

According to OHA, Lane County has the highest number of cases in 2024, reporting 249 cases followed by Multnomah County with 180 cases, Clackamas County with 109 cases, Washington with 67, and Deschutes with 59.

OHA said the median age of the cases is 11, but cases range among people from five weeks old to 89 years old.

This comes after Clark County Public Health announced on Wednesday that they were seeing soaring whooping cough cases and chicken pox outbreaks at three schools, noting most of the cases were among unvaccinated children.

OHA warns that babies that are too young to be fully vaccinated suffer the most from whooping cough and have the highest reported incidence rate and a higher likelihood of hospitalization and death. Babies do not start building protection against infection until they are vaccinated at two months old, according to OHA.

The health agency said with the exception of 2024, Oregon whooping cough deaths have been limited to infants, with five occurring since 2003.

Health experts urge pregnant people at 27-36 weeks’ gestation to get the Tdap vaccine, which offers protection from tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. Vaccinated mothers make antibodies and pass them to their babies across the placenta, which decreases the risk of whooping cough in babies younger than two months by 78% to 91%.

Officials also recommend vaccinations for infants, children, adolescents, and adults.

Data from January through Nov. 13, show 406, or 49%, of 2024’s cases were reported in people who did not have documented doses of pertussis vaccines. Additionally, 361, or 44%, were up to date on vaccines.

According to OHA, among the 75 infant cases, 11 mothers had documentation of getting the vaccine during pregnancy.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic – which saw health restrictions such as masking requirements and school closures – annual case tallies routinely reached triple digits before dropping to three cases in 2021.

Now, Oregon’s year-to-date 827 cases represent a nearly 2,500% increase from the 32 cases reported in the same period in 2023.

“It’s concerning,” said Lisandra Guzman, Lane County’s deputy public health officer and a preventive medicine physician. “Pertussis is very contagious, and that's one of the reasons it's so hard to control.”

Guzman furthered that pertussis is also dangerous because early symptoms are similar to symptoms from respiratory viral infections.

“What you think may be a simple cold can turn out to be pertussis, because that's how it begins— with a mild upper respiratory infection. After a couple weeks, the whooping cough begins,” Guzman said.

In a press release announcing Oregon’s concerning rise in cases, Jennifer Gibbons, a naturopathic physician in Portland, described seeing a five-month-old baby, whose mother said the child had difficulty breathing, and coughed until she vomited, then would seem fine minutes later.

“I'm talking to her, and she has this perfectly healthy-looking 5-month-old baby, who then all of a sudden starts coughing, and her face turns dark red, and she's gasping for breath while she's trying to cough up all the secretions,” Gibbons recalled. “With pertussis, they get into these spasms of coughing that they can't stop, and they're often bringing up large amounts of mucus. It's very scary.”

Health officials are urging Oregonians to get vaccinated, especially ahead of holiday gatherings.

“I've had multiple families say, ‘If I had known how bad this was going to be, I would have vaccinated.’ I use that to tell other families,” Gibbons said, noting, “kids tolerate this vaccine very well. I find it to be a really useful, safe and effective vaccine.”