São Paulo reports 769% increase in whooping cough to date
Whooping cough cases in the state of São Paulo reached 139 from January to early June, an increase of 768.7% compared to the same period last year, when there were 16 records, according to data from the State Department of Health.
Caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria, pertussis or whooping cough, as it is popularly known, is a respiratory infection. Pertussis is a highly contagious disease with a reproductive number (R0) of 15–17.
The transmission potential is similar to that of measles and chickenpox and much greater than that of Covid-19, which generates around three secondary cases for each infection.
The disease tends to spread more in times of mild or cold weather, such as spring and winter, when people stay indoors more. All it takes is contact with the cough or secretion of a person with the disease to become infected.
Whooping cough begins with the catarrhal phase, which lasts up to two weeks, marked by mild fever, general malaise, runny nose and dry cough, being the most infectious when the frequency and intensity of coughing attacks gradually increase. The second phase, which lasts from two to six weeks, is paroxysmal, with fever that remains low, followed by sudden, rapid and short coughing attacks, which can compromise breathing.
In the final phase, of convalescence, the previous symptoms decrease in frequency and intensity, although the cough may persist for several months.
According to the Department of Health, vaccination is the best form of prevention and must be carried out in the first months of life, at 2, 4 and 6 months of age, with an interval of 60 days between doses.
The recommendation of the State Department of Health is that pregnant women and health professionals also take the vaccine. The Department of the National Immunization Program (DPNI) exceptionally and temporarily expanded the vaccination of nursery and daycare professionals who care for children up to four years old, with the adsorbed diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (dTpa) vaccine.
The director of the Epidemiological Surveillance Center (CVE), of the São Paulo Health Department (SES-SP), Tatiana Lang, explains that, despite its effectiveness in preventing outbreaks of the disease, vaccination needs periodic reinforcement.
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“Immunity is not long-lasting, so it is important to get booster vaccination, which is available in all 645 municipalities in the state of São Paulo”, he emphasizes. This year, vaccination coverage for the immunizer reaches 76.3% in the state.
Outside of Brazil, at least 17 countries in the European Union report an increase in pertussis cases – between January and December last year, 25,130 cases were reported on the continent.
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Between January and March this year, 32,037 cases were registered in the region in different age groups, with the highest incidence among children under 1 year old, followed by groups aged 5 to 9 years old and 1 to 4 years old.
The China Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, in 2024, 32,380 cases and 13 deaths from pertussis were reported in the country by February. Bolivia also records an outbreak of the disease, with 693 confirmed cases from January to August 2023, 435 (62.8%) in children under 5 years of age, in addition to eight deaths.
In Brazil, the last epidemic peak of pertussis occurred in 2014, when 8,614 cases were confirmed. From 2015 to 2019, the number of confirmed cases varied between 3,110 and 1,562. From 2020 onwards, there was a significant reduction in cases of the disease, associated with the Covid-19 pandemic and social isolation.
