Vaccines urged as whooping cough cases rise

Driving the news: The two most recent cases in King County were reported this week, public health spokesperson Kate Cole told Axios.

By the numbers: As of March 8, Washington state had recorded 590 pertussis cases this year and more than 1,000 in 2024.

• Spokane and Clark counties had 130 and 101 cases respectively in the first months of 2025, followed by King and Snohomish with 75 each, per the state Department of Health.
• Wendy Inouye, communicable disease epidemiologist for Kitsap Public Health District, said that since the start of the 2024–25 school year, 33 pertussis cases have been reported, with more than two-thirds in school-aged children and the most recent cases occurring in mid-March.

The big picture: More than 32,000 cases of whooping cough were recorded in the U.S. last year, the highest annual total in a decade.