There have been 3 infant pertussis deaths in Kentucky alone this year.
I had a case of pertussis in my practice in an un-immunized teenager. Don’t know how many people exposed in the middle school or if an infant was exposed. Did have a complaint 3 weeks later that still coughing which is normal and may continue for weeks. In my residency in the late 70’s had a 18 month old with pertussis who had to be ventilated since we could not get enough oxygen in with blow by. This is a dangerous disease that is highly preventable!

Already this year, anti-vaccine activists have downplayed the risks of measles and polio. Now, they’re adding whooping cough to the list, even as cases of the disease surge, killing at least ten babies over the past two years. Two of those babies died in Louisiana, where a crusading state surgeon general, Dr. Ralph Abraham, waited months to warn the public about the outbreak and banned mass vaccination campaigns.

Given Abraham’s vaccine skepticism, it is unsurprising that he has earned a leadership position under RFK Jr.

Instead of discipline, Abraham has been rewarded: Last month, he was appointed to the second-highest leadership role at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/cdc-rfk-whooping-cough-louisiana-ralph-abraham/