Another highly contagious vaccine-preventable illness is on the rise in Michigan as uptake for decades-old shots has declined in recent years.

Pertussis, a respiratory illness also known as whooping cough, sickened 2,081 residents in 2024. It was the third consecutive annual increase, and a 19-fold jump from the 110 cases reported in 2023.

Doctors say people of all ages need the whooping cough vaccine that saw a 1,792% increase in cases. So far in 2025, Michigan health officials have identified 497 cases, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).

The bacterial infection is known to cause severe coughing fits in children, lasting weeks to months. It can be severe, and even fatal, especially for babies who may abruptly stop breathing.

Babies younger than 1 year old are at the greatest risk for getting the infection and having severe complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Physicians at three of the state’s largest health systems anecdotally reported significant increases in pertussis cases. At the University of Michigan Health in Ann Arbor, there were 106 cases in FY 2025 — up from fewer than 10 cases each of the previous two years.

“The numbers are up statewide and nationwide,” said Dr. Debra Langlois, a pediatrician for U-M Health. “I would say it’s regional for the time being. It might be pockets now, but it could be next door tomorrow.”

“Measles has been in the news, but this is another public health emergency and the best thing we can do is be vaccinated, especially for young kids.”

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Michigan’s rise in pertussis has aligned with lower rates of DTaP vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. About 72.5% of children had gotten their recommended doses of DTaP as of the fourth quarter of 2024 — a decline from 79% in 2014.

Similarly, uptake for the vaccine’s booster shot (TDaP), recommended at 11 years old and every 10 years thereafter, increased to 80% in 2018 before declining to 76.4% as of late 2024.

Dr. Shalini Sethi, a senior staff pediatrician and division head for three Henry Ford Health centers in Southeast Michigan, said the recent spike in pertussis is more than what’s to be expected during the typical disease cycle.

“There’s lots of research and factors, which we know,” Sethi said. “The most important is the decline in the vaccination rate.”

Whooping cough can look like a common cold in the first week or two after infection.

The relentless cough and exhaustion follow in a second stage, which can last anywhere from one to six weeks. A gradual recovery from the coughing fits can last weeks or months.

“It’s typical with the older children that the long-lasting cough seems like it’ll never end,” Langlois said. “Patients have suffered rib fractures from such intense coughing and they can get pneumonia as a secondary infection.”

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Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, which can lessen the disease if given early enough. Hospitals may also admit patients for supportive care, especially babies in need of constant surveillance and breathing assistance.

Langlois said most cases she sees are among unvaccinated children, or older children who aren’t yet eligible for a booster.

The first whooping cough vaccine was licensed in the U.S. in 1914. It was later combined with vaccines for diphtheria and tetanus in 1948, and the current DTaP vaccine was licensed in 1991.

Before widespread vaccination in the late 1940s, whooping cough sickened about 200,000 people per year, with about 9,000 children dying as a result of their infection, according to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Annual cases fell off more than 90% after widespread vaccination.

The CDC recommends DTaP vaccination at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 to 18 months, and 4 to 6 years.

More Michigan students are waiving required vaccines. Check out your school’s rate.

Dr. Erica Michiels, medical director of Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital’s emergency department in Grand Rapids, said she’s seen more whooping cough recently than anytime in her 13-year career.

“Vaccine hesitancy is probably at an all-time high,” Michiels said. “People are refusing standard childhood vaccines. It’s really a disappointing trend because they keep children safe, keep society safe.”

Hesitancy seemed to increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Skepticism around a new vaccine, coupled with public anger over vaccine requirements, led to more vocal opposition.

Parents also fell behind on their children’s recommended vaccine schedule, affecting the state’s rates across the board.

“Well checks were not being done over fear of COVID,” Dr. Sethi said. “All these vaccinations are not done and now we’re trying to catch them up, if they’re coming in.”

Sethi said trust and education are key factors in getting through parents’ hesitancy around vaccines. She digs into what they’ve heard that gives them pause, offers educational material, and shares reasons why she chose to vaccinate her own children.

“You have to talk about the fear, try to talk it out,” she said. “It’s making parents aware what the science is behind it and why we protect them even before the disease hits.”

For more vaccine information, contact your primary care physician or local health department, or visit Michigan’s webpage on immunization information, or ivaccinate.org, a resource founded by Veronica Valentine McNally, who advocates for vaccination after her daughter died of pertussis in 2012.