Whooping cough cases are accelerating in Mississippi as public health officials prepare for possible measles outbreaks in the state. 

There have been 32 reported pertussis, or whooping cough, cases in Mississippi so far this year, up from 49 total cases last year, reported State Epidemiologist Dr. Renia Dotson at the State Board of Health Meeting April 10.

No measles cases have yet been reported in Mississippi, despite outbreaks in nearby Texas. 

Risk of widespread pertussis or measles outbreaks among young children, who are at greatest risk for both diseases and for having severe complications that can lead to death, are low due to high childhood vaccination rates in Mississippi, said Dotson. The risk of measles outbreaks among adults is low due to lifelong immunity from previous infections.

“Our first line of defense is our immunization rates,” said State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney.

Mississippi has long had the highest child vaccination rates in the country. But since a federal judge ruled in 2023 that parents can opt out of vaccinating their children for school on account of religious beliefs, the vaccination rate has crept lower, falling from 99% to 97.5%.

The state’s declining childhood vaccination rates are “very concerning,” said Dr. Patricia Tibbs, a Laurel pediatrician and the president of the Mississippi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

“With how much the religious exemption has affected our vaccine rates, I’m just worried that once (measles) hits the state, it’s going to spread,” she said.

Maintaining a childhood vaccination rate above 95% is crucial to prevent measles from becoming endemic, or a constant presence in an area, said Edney. 

Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 as a result of the measles vaccination. But vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving more children vulnerable to the disease. 

Two school-aged children in Texas died from measles this year, and over 500 cases have been reported in the state. Over 600 cases have been reported nationwide across 22 states. 

Measles is a highly contagious acute viral respiratory and rash illness that will lead to the hospitalization of one in five infected people. One to three out of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications. 

The health department is working aggressively to educate physicians and providers on measles.  

“Doctors younger than myself have never seen measles unless they’ve seen it in the developing world,” said Edney.

Whooping cough, named for the “whooping” sound people make when gasping for air after a coughing fit, is a very contagious respiratory illness that may begin like a common cold but lasts for weeks and months. Babies younger than one year of age are at greatest risk for getting whooping cough, and can have severe complications and often require hospitalization. 

Two infants in Louisiana have died of whooping cough in the past six months.

From 2023 to 2024, pertussis cases in the U.S. increased by a factor of seven, soaring from 5,500 to 35,500 cases. 

The best protection for children and communities against measles and whooping cough is vaccination, said Tibbs. She recommends that parents of children who are too young to get the vaccines check on the vaccination status of people who care for their children.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that children receive two doses of the measles vaccine, which is 97% effective at preventing measles for life. The pertussis vaccination is administered in a five-dose series for children under 7 and booster doses for older children and adults.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cancelled over $200 million in federal grants allocated for COVID-19 pandemic relief to the Mississippi State Department of Health last month, saying the funds were a waste of taxpayer dollars.

The department was using some of those funds to strengthen and augment the state’s epidemiology capacity, including “how we do our surveillance, how we identify when outbreaks are occurring and how we respond,” Edney told Mississippi Today. 

The health department’s reporting systems are adequate for surveilling outbreaks of measles and pertussis, he said. But the cuts will slow the department’s planned improvements to the state public health laboratory and its ability to prepare for emerging pathogens. 

“I think that’s what’s wasteful, not using the money to rebuild public health, but stopping the work halfway through, so now we have a house half-finished with no roof or walls,” Edney said. 

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