Whooping cough on the rise in the state, health leaders express concern

CONCORD — New Hampshire is seeing a rise in whooping cough cases this year, stoking concern among healthcare providers in the state. 

According to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services almost 75 cases have been recorded in the year thus far. Manchester has been a hotbed for the bacterial illness, and almost 20 cases have been recorded at the Elliot Hospital with 15 of those cases recorded in the last month and a half, hospital officials said. 

Dr. Maria Boylan, Director of Primary Care at Elliot said the cases of whooping cough drastically dropped during the pandemic due to preventive health measures people were taking, but have been on the rise in recent years again.

“During the covid pandemic, we averaged about 10 cases per year from 2020 to 2023, and this was mostly due to the fact that there was a drop in respiratory illnesses overall just because of the public health measures like masking and social distancing and schools being shut down,” Dr. Boylan said. “However, in 2024 when we started to kind of get back to some normalcy, we saw a big spike back up to about 69 cases that year, and that was consistent with pre-pandemic data.”

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis is a bacterial infection that causes symptoms such as nose, sneezing, fevers, coughing and puts infants and children, particularly those under the age of six, at risk. 

“But then it can quickly progress to pretty severe coughing fits, especially at night time. Children can be coughing to the point of vomiting,” Dr. Boylan said. “They can get very exhausted. They can even turn blue while they’re coughing.”

Although symptoms can subside on their own, healthcare providers recommend getting checked out early in the infection’s onset since people are the most contagious the first two weeks of the infection. 

“ It causes symptoms similar to like a cold. So, fever, chills and cough. The most prominent symptom of pertussis is the cough that can be quite debilitating,” said Dr. Gabrela Andujar Vazquez, an epidemiologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. “ It is a cough that can persist for weeks to months after getting infected. So that’s why we call it whooping cough.”

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Dr. Boylan recommended parents to keep an eye out for any infections at their child’s daycare, school or in other areas of constant contact since the infection, if not given proper attention in time, can spiral into something more serious such as: periods of apnea, pneumonia, seizures, and a condition called encephalopathy, where the bacteria spread brain and even some cases, it can cause death. 

“About 50% of kids under the age of one who get pertussis will need to be hospitalized for it,” Dr. Boylan said. 

Treatment for pertussis is simple—a common oral antibiotic, Azithromycin for five days. The earlier the treatment, the less risk there is for complications and hospitalization. For patients with more severe symptoms, hospitalization and treatment with IV fluids and oxygen is recommended. 

“ When you are identified as having whooping cough and you take antibiotics, it helps you feel better quicker,” Dr. Vazquez said. “It also reduces the risk of you spreading the disease. You become less infectious.” 

Dr. Boylan emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated to prevent whooping cough, and called it the most effective way to develop herd immunity against the infection. She recommends adults get vaccinated for pertussis and get a booster every 10 years in the form of the Tdap vaccine.

“[New Hampshire has] done pretty well in regards to childhood vaccinations, where we’re ranked eighth among US states for overall vaccination performance, and 14th when it comes to children and teens,” she said. 

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