PERTUSSIS ALERT

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) Health Alert Network (HAN) recently sent an advisory about the rise of pertussis (whooping cough) cases in multiple jurisdictions. As of May 4, 2024, there have been a total of 170 confirmed or probable cases of pertussis across 15 counties in Washington. This marks a sixfold increase in reported pertussis cases as compared to this time last year.

Office of Immunization vaccine recommendations:

• All children should receive a series of DTaP at ages 2, 4, and 6 months. Boosters should be given at ages 15-18 months and at 4-6 years.
• Adolescents should receive a single dose of Tdap (instead of Td) at the 11-12-year-old visit.
• Adolescents and adults who have not received a dose of Tdap, or whose vaccine status is unknown, should receive a single dose of Tdap.
• Children 7-10 years old who did not complete a series of pertussis-containing vaccine before their seventh birthday should receive a single dose of Tdap. If needed, they should complete their series with Td or Tdap. If a Tdap dose is administered at age 10 or older, the Tdap dose may count as the adolescent Tdap dose.
• All healthcare personnel, regardless of age, should receive a single dose of Tdap if they have not previously received Tdap and regardless of the time since the last dose of Td.
• Pregnant teens and adults should receive Tdap during each pregnancy, preferably between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation.
• Mothers who have never received Tdap and who do not receive it during pregnancy should receive it immediately postpartum (following birth).

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