Taiwan: Domestic pertussis epidemic this year is at a six-year high

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced today that two new cases of pertussis were confirmed in Taiwan last week. They were a family cluster case in southern Taiwan, and both were family members of a two-month-old baby girl who was diagnosed on March 20.

The baby girl developed coughing symptoms in early March. As the symptoms did not improve and were accompanied by vomiting and asthma, she sought medical treatment many times. In mid-March, she was suspected of having whooping cough and was hospitalized. After being reported and tested, she was diagnosed on March 20. After treatment and improvement, she was discharged from the hospital on March 23.

There were seven family members living with her, including her mother and great-grandmother who were tested and diagnosed as new cases on March 28. The other five have been evaluated and given medication. There are currently 99 contacts in this cluster (including the two new cases) and they are expected to be monitored until April 22.

According to monitoring data from the CDC, there have been a total of 11 confirmed cases of pertussis in the country this year (2025) (including 4 family clusters), all of which are local cases. The number of cases is the highest in the same period in six years (since 2020). The number of pertussis cases in the same period from 2020 to 2024 were 4, 0, 0, 0, and 2, respectively. The cumulative number of cases each year ranged from 0 to 34, with the majority being infants 3 months old or younger (27%), followed by those aged 13-19 years (24%).

The CDC pointed out that in terms of the international epidemic, the pertussis epidemic in neighboring countries has increased and become severe since last year (2024).

Among them, the number of cases in Japan has increased rapidly since the beginning of this year, with a total of more than 3,500 cases reported, the highest since 2018; China has accumulated more than 9,900 cases in January and February this year, which is lower than the same period in January and February last year. Last year, more than 490,000 cases were reported, 14 times that of 2023, and the epidemic peaked in May; Vietnam has recently continued to report cases and deaths in many areas in the southeast. The country reported more than 1,000 cases last year, more than 21 times more than in 2023; South Korea has reported more than 3,500 cases this year, which is a continuation of the epidemic last winter. It has slowed down recently, with no more than 100 cases per week.

Last year, the total number of cases exceeded 47,000, reaching a peak in July with more than 10,000 cases reported in a single month; the United States has reported more than 6,600 cases so far this year, and the country reported more than 35,000 cases last year, 5 times that of 2023.