Tenth baby dies of whooping cough in California

In this day and age, it’s hard to imagine anybody, let alone a tiny little infant, dying from a disease that has recently been considered eradicated. California is leading in pertussis deaths, however, many states throughout the country are experiencing a significant and alarming increase in both diagnosis and deaths caused by whooping cough.

10 infants have died in 2010 from pertussis (whooping cough). According to CNN, one 5 week old infant from North Carolina, Carter Dube, died when he was somehow exposed to the virus before he was old enough to immunized.

The problem is multifaceted. Some parents are refusing vaccination due to a lot of really, really bad information being disseminated by well meaning anti-vaccination advocates and erroneous information on the safety and efficacy throughout the Internet. The tragedy is not necessarily in withholding the vaccination from their own children, it’s that they become a carrier and infect those who may be immune compromised and infants too young to get the shots. Secondly, many adults are now carriers and need boaster shots, which most adults don’t bother with. These are deaths that are so preventable. How unfortunate.