New Mexico is experiencing an outbreak of pertussis (also known as whooping cough) in communities throughout the state. As of December 2nd there are 727 confirmed and probably cases in NM, with 65 in infants less than one year of age, and one infant death. Pertussis is a serious, highly contagious bacterial respiratory infection that causes symptoms similar to a cold in older children and adults, but infants who are infected are more likely to be hospitalized, develop complications or even die from the disease.

Most infants are infected with pertussis by adults with the disease. In order to help protect infants from pertussis, it is suggested that health care workers and people who are around infants be immunized with Tdap. Immunizing those who are most likely to pass pertussis on to infants, a cocooning strategy, is one way of decreasing the likelihood of transmission to and serious complications in infants.

It is important to recognize the signs and symptoms of pertussis in patients, especially infants. Often infants do not exhibit the paroxysms that are most commonly associated with pertussis. Older patients may appear to have a common cold and not necessarily "whoop" when coughing. Testing is important for enabling early treatment which has the potential to decrease the severity of the disease and reduce the spread of disease. If a provider thinks a patient may have pertussis, they should start antibiotic treatment as soon as possible, before waiting for test results to return from the lab. It is also important to remember that patients can still contract pertussis even if they are fully vaccinated. Additionally, patients who continue to cough after completing one course of antibiotics should not receive a second course of antibiotics.

The New Mexico Department of Health appreciates your help and continued attention to the pertussis outbreak in our state. Please visit http://nmhealth.org/pertussis/ for more information.