Fewer people are getting vaccinated for whooping cough, resulting in the disease spreading. Many more people are getting the disease, which makes you feel awful, as if you are coughing your lungs out. For babies, the disease can be deadly. “Cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, have jumped 14-fold since 2023, alarming state health officials. As of Dec. 8, there were 1,578 confirmed cases of pertussis in Michigan, compared to 110 for the full year of 2023,” notes Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA Commissioner in the Trump administration.
“Whooping cough cases skyrocket in Michigan, as vaccinations decline,” notes a news story. “The disease can be deadly to infants.”
Cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, have jumped 14-fold since 2023…As of Dec. 8, there were 1,578 confirmed cases of pertussis in Michigan, compared to 110 for the full year of 2023….Pertussis often starts with mild cold-like symptoms but progresses to severe coughing fits that can last for weeks or months. It can be deadly, particularly to infants. Over half of infants who contract pertussis require hospitalization. (You can hear the distinctive cough here.) Outbreaks are most common in schools, childcare centers and hospitals.
One reason for the spike is increased resistance to childhood vaccinations. Vaccination coverage for pertussis is down…with [only] 73% of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving the recommended four doses of Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DTaP) vaccine….“As Michigan faces a record number of pertussis cases, it’s more important than ever for parents, caregivers and communities to prioritize vaccination,” Ryan Malosh…with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, told a news conference.
Vaccines do not cause autism. “Vaccination in general, the MMR vaccine specifically, thimerosal in vaccines, mercury in vaccines—none of it is associated with autism across cohort studies,” notes a science writer, attaching a helpful summary of studies about this, “Across Cohort Studies, Vaccination is Unrelated To Autism.”
“Vaccines are completely, utterly, totally, and entirely unrelated to the development of autism,” notes Steve Stewart-Williams, who writes about psychology and science. Stewart-Williams cites research such as the scholarly article, “Vaccines are not associated with autism: An evidence-based meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies.” As that article notes, a large amount of research refutes the false claim that vaccines cause autism.
