2012 U.S. pertussis outbreak is worst in decades
With provisional counts of pertussis in the United States in 2012 well over 40,000, last years outbreak is the worst in over 50 years, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) preliminary data.
This is up from 18, 719 cases reported in 2011.
In addition, the outbreak showed significant increases state by state. 49 states and Washington, D.C. have reported increases in disease compared with the same time period in 2011. Only California did not see an increase in whooping cough cases from 2011 to 2012.
In fact, nearly half the states saw at least a 3-times or more increase in cases as compared to 2011.
Washington, Vermont, Minnesota and Colorado all saw increases of approximately 5-times or more compared to 2011.
The current numbers have not all been tallied yet, so the final data, when released should be somewhat higher.
The last time the United States has seen this many cases of pertussis was in the mid-1950s.
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