General

Whooping cough cases increasing in North America

Whooping cough is on the rise in the U.S., Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and New Brunswick. There have already been 18,000 reported cases of it in the U.S., nine of which were fatal, says the Toronto Star.

In Canada, we’ve had 1,785 cases—New Brunswick’s count alone is 1,057. An Alberta infant died from the disease. Ontario has 240 cases, nine of which led to hospitalization.

Though the vaccine for whooping cough is publicly funded in Ontario, some are choosing not to be vaccinated, or aren’t sufficiently protected from the virus. Vaccines don’t last forever.

“The outbreak we’ve been having has occurred in persons who either are unimmunized or under-immunized,” said Arlene King, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.

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