Indiana Dodges the Whooping Cough Bullet

In the wake of the worst year of whopping cough cases in the United States since 1959, it appears as if Indiana may have dodged a bullet.

Recently, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that nearly 18,000 reported cases have emerged in 20012 thus far, which is more than double from last year’s numbers.

However, according to the Indiana Health Department, with only 118 reported cases so far this year, the state could finish out the year below last years 367 and well under the 744 in 2010 – the highest number in Indiana for over 50 years.

While health officials say that Indiana has avoided an outbreak, that position could change at any time.

Health officials attribute doctor awareness of the disease as one of the reasons Indiana has not revisited its record breaking number of nearly 2,000 reported cases of the illness in 1955.

Still, health experts say that whooping cough is an infectious disease that poses a particular risk for infection in kids that have not been immunized.

The disease comes on almost like the common cold, but within a week, the sneezing and coughing can transpire into intense fits of coughing.

Experts say that the majority of people fully recover over time, however, in some rare cases the disease can be deadly.

Indiana has only see four whooping cough deaths in the past six years.