Whooping cough can be fatal in young infants, experts warn

Vaccination is strongly encouraged, especially during pregnancy

2025-10-03

(Press-News.org) Pertussis, or whooping cough, is on the rise and incidence now exceeds pre-pandemic numbers. While in adults and older children the cough can be bothersome and last for months, pertussis in young infants can be life-threatening. Most children under 2 months of age with pertussis in the United States are hospitalized. In a special article published in Pediatrics, experts strongly encourage vaccination, especially during pregnancy.

“Pertussis symptoms are different in infants,” said leading author Caitlin Li, MD, infectious diseases specialist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “The characteristic whooping cough may be absent, but apnea, or breathing interruption, is common.”

Pertussis in infants can also present with very high white blood cell count (“leukocytosis”), which pediatricians might mistake for cancer or other non-infectious conditions. Extremely high white blood cell counts in infants should prompt strong consideration of pertussis, according to the authors.

“Given that infants are at high risk for complications, pertussis vaccination of mothers during pregnancy is critical, as it protects newborns against this potentially fatal illness,” stressed Dr. Li. “Widespread vaccination is also an important tool to protect everyone.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends vaccine doses at 2, 4, 6, 15-18 months and 4-6 years of age. A booster dose is recommended at 11-12 years, with catch-up through 18 years. The CDC also recommends universal vaccination during pregnancy, optimally between 27-36 weeks of gestation, as the primary tool to prevent pertussis-related deaths.

Rapid initiation of antibiotics is recommended for all patients with confirmed or suspected pertussis. If given early in the disease course, this therapy may improve symptoms. While later treatment is unlikely to impact symptoms, it does reduce transmission.

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is a nonprofit organization committed to providing access to exceptional care for every child. It is the only independent, research-driven children’s hospital in Illinois and one of less than 35 nationally. This is where the top doctors go to train, practice pediatric medicine, teach, advocate, research and stay up to date on the latest treatments. Exclusively focused on children, all Lurie Children’s resources are devoted to serving their needs. Research at Lurie Children’s is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, which is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Children’s is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. It is ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Knee-d for excellence: New regional training hub keeps surgeons sharp for ageing population

2025-10-03

Singapore, 3 October 2025 – Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has announced the launch of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for robotic-assisted surgery, ensuring orthopaedic surgeons are equipped with knowledge of emerging technologies as the population ages and surgical needs evolve. The Centre is established as part of a two-year strategic collaboration, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with Johnson & Johnson MedTechwith an initial focus on training and research in total knee replacement. Regional ...

The Lancet: Billions lack access to healthy diets as food systems drive climate and health crises, but sustainable, equitable solutions are within reach, says new EAT-Lancet report

2025-10-02

Building on the landmark 2019 report, the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission presents the most comprehensive scientific analysis of global food systems to date. It establishes a clear, science-based approach to provide 9.6 billion people with access to healthy diets within planetary boundaries while recognising that healthy and sustainable diets are the foundation of human rights. The report reveals that the global food system contributes to 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and is the largest driver of planetary boundary transgressions through its impacts on climate, biodiversity, freshwater consumption, and land use change. Although there ...

Countries with highest reported levels of hearing loss have lowest use of hearing aids

2025-10-02

Countries with the highest reported levels of hearing loss also have the lowest reported use of hearing aids, finds international research published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health. And men are generally more likely than women to report difficulties with their hearing, although this gender divide narrows with age, the findings show. An estimated 1.57 billion people—equivalent to 1 in 5 of the world’s population—had hearing loss in 2019. And it’s predicted that it will affect 2.45 billion people by 2050, say the researchers. Hearing loss is associated with an array of problems ...

Early medical abortion at home up to 12 weeks is safe, effective, and comparable to hospital care

2025-10-02

Early medical abortion at home up to 12 weeks of pregnancy is safe, effective, and comparable to hospital care, finds a 5 year review of cases in Scotland, where this timeframe is legally permitted, and published online in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health. It’s time to extend the current legal limit of 10 weeks to 12 weeks to enable women in the rest of the UK and Europe to choose this option, conclude the researchers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation was introduced throughout Scotland, England, and Wales to allow women to ...

New approach to gravitational wave detection opens the Milli-Hz Frontier

2025-10-02

Scientists have unveiled a new approach to detecting gravitational waves in the milli-Hertz frequency range, providing access to astrophysical and cosmological phenomena that are not detectable with current instruments. Gravitational waves—ripples in spacetime predicted by Einstein—have been observed at high frequencies by ground-based interferometers such as LIGO and Virgo, and at ultra-low frequencies by pulsar timing arrays. However, the mid-band range has remained a scientific blind spot. Developed by researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Sussex, the new detector concept uses cutting-edge optical cavity and atomic clock technologies ...

Rice membrane extracts lithium from brines with greater speed, less waste

2025-10-02

HOUSTON – (Oct. 2, 2025) – A team of researchers at Rice University has developed a new membrane that selectively filters out lithium from brines, offering a faster, cleaner way to produce the element at the heart of nearly every rechargeable battery. According to a study published in Nature Communications, the new membrane achieved one of the highest selectivities for lithium among similar membranes while using considerably less energy. The membrane design can be adapted to target the recovery of other valuable minerals, such as cobalt and nickel, and plugs ...

Exercise lowers disease risk. This researcher wants to understand how

2025-10-02

Don't love the gym? Neither does exercise scientist Ryan Montalvo. But he goes anyway. While any workout can seem daunting, the physical stress of exercise often affords long-term benefits. One advantage is that it triggers a physiological response that allows our cells to adjust to meet future energy demand in what’s known as a hormetic response. With an early career research grant from the American College of Sports Medicine Research Endowment, Montalvo will explore how this response to exercise-induced stress might help overcome noncommunicable diseases. Working ...

Hurricane evacuation patterns differ based on where the storm hits

2025-10-02

A study comparing evacuation patterns in response to two 2024 hurricanes, Milton and Helene, found that people in coastal areas with frequent hurricane exposure were much more likely to travel out of harm’s way compared to people in inland areas who were more likely to stay put. Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health led the study. Their findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters. These geographic differences are likely due to a combination of factors, including access to transportation infrastructure, social norms, and risk perception, ...

Stem Cell Reports welcomes new members to its Editorial Board

2025-10-02

Expanding the depth and breadth of scientific expertise that defines Stem Cell Reports, the official journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, 13 distinguished researchers have joined the Editorial Board. Their appointment broadens representation across the diverse and international landscape of stem cell science and reinforces the Board’s commitment to championing the journal, raising its global visibility, and ensuring rigorous, high-quality peer review. “I am delighted to welcome our new editorial board members to Stem Cell Reports, said Janet Rossant, editor-in-chief. “Their breadth of expertise ...

Researchers develop molecular qubits that communicate at telecom frequencies

2025-10-02

A team of scientists from the University of Chicago, the University of California Berkeley, Argonne National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed molecular qubits that bridge the gap between light and magnetism—and operate at the same frequencies as telecommunications technology. The advance, published today in Science, establishes a promising new building block for scalable quantum technologies that can integrate seamlessly with existing fiber-optic networks. Because the new molecular qubits can interact at telecom-band frequencies, the work points toward future quantum networks—sometimes called the “quantum internet.” ...

The Lancet: Billions lack access to healthy diets as food systems drive climate and health crises, but sustainable, equitable solutions are within reach, says new EAT-Lancet report

Whooping cough can be fatal in young infants, experts warn

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: