Kristi Tanner

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is on the rise in Michigan. The number of cases this year has surpassed 100 and continues to climb, according to preliminary data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Oakland County Health Department. In 2016, there were about 448 cases of whooping cough in the state.

In Oakland County last month, there were 31 confirmed and probable cases of the vaccine-preventable disease, compared with four cases in January 2016.

"These are the highest numbers we have seen since 2014, " said Dr. Pamela Hackert, chief of medical services in Oakland County. The county had 108 case of pertussis last year, 44 in 2015 and 161 in 2014.

Read more:

Majority of pediatricians agree to delay vaccinations

Vaccination crisis leaves no room for pandering pols

Infants and young children are the most vulnerable to the disease and can get very sick or die if they contract whooping cough. About half of the infants diagnosed with pertussis are hospitalized, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infants need the full series of four vaccinations to be fully protected from the disease, Hackert said. The DTaP vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, is given to children at 2 months old, 4 months, 6 months, and 15-18 months. A fifth dose in the series is given at 4-6 years old.

"People just need to get out there and get vaccinated," said Veronica McNally, whose daughter Francesca is one of three children in Michigan who have died from the disease since 2010.

Francesca was almost 3 months old when she was diagnosed with whooping cough. As a tribute to their daughter, Veronica McNally and her husband, Sean, began the foundation Franny Strong to spread awareness about the disease.

"Not enough people are talking about it," McNally said. "We are not in a society where we see these diseases every day, but they are out there. It is often vaccination that keeps people from getting infected — we shouldn’t take that for granted."

Whooping cough cases tend to rise and fall every few years. In recent years, the highest number of whooping cough cases statewide were reported in 2010 and 2014; a total of 1,564 and 1,424 cases, respectively.

Cannot see the figure? Click here to view.

Whooping cough symptoms start with those similar to a cold: runny nose, congestion, sneezing and fever. One to two weeks later, severe coughing can occur. The disease is named for the whooping sound a person often makes when gasping for breath after a coughing episode. But, not all cases include a cough. Many babies just stop breathing instead.

Pregnant women are advised to get the Tdap booster, a vaccine for adults and adolescents to protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, between 27 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. The CDC recommends that preteens receive one dose of Tdap at age 11 or 12.

Hackert said it is important that anyone in contact with a baby younger than 12 months — including grandparents, other family members and friends — is vaccinated against pertussis.

Most physician offices have the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine. For information about whooping cough, go to www.cdc.gov/pertussis.