Toronto health officials see uptick in whooping cough cases

The Fall respiratory wave has not officially arrived in Ontario, but just two weeks into September, there appears to be an uptick in a respiratory infection that can be prevented.

Dr. Vinita Dubey, Toronto’s Associate Medical Officer of Health, said there has been a jump in cases so far this month of Pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

“We are certainly seeing an increase that is sustained,” said Dr. Dubey. “As of September 16, we’re at 113 cases where we were at 99, and these are confirmed cases, compared to 99 at the end of August. We also have another 20 to 22 probable cases, and we know that there are many people that might not have been tested.”

The numbers are concerning considering what Toronto has usually seen on average in previous years.

“This is three times the number of cases that we would expect to see on an average year,” said Dr. Dubey.

Local numbers appear to reflect provincial numbers as well. As of June 30, there has been 470 cases of whooping cough reported. A considerable spike compared to the five-year average of just 98.

CityNews reached out to the Public Health of Ontario, who said the latest case counts for July and August will be released this Wednesday. Dr. Dubey said these waves come and go every two to six years, but there could be a number of reasons for this specific uptick.

“We … saw through the pandemic that we didn’t see a lot of these viruses and bacteria spread a lot, and so that meant that there wasn’t a lot of natural immunity. We also know that some children and adults may not have had some of their routine vaccinations.”

Whooping cough is a respiratory disease that makes it hard to clear mucus from the throat and lungs. The infection can happen any time of the year and anyone can get it. A significant number of Toronto cases, however, is appearing in one age group.

“About 40 per cent of cases are aged 10 to 14 years [old],” said Dr. Dubey.

Symptoms of whooping cough may be less severe in older children and adults as it can start off like any other cold. If left untreated or if the disease spreads in younger ages, namely infants, it could lead to severe complications. 

“It can be a dangerous cough where they end up with apnick episodes where they stop breathing, maybe they go blue,” said Dr. Dubey. “What we’re trying to do is to protect our youngest children, those infants, those newborns, anyone less than one year of age because they, especially two months and under, they can’t get vaccinated.”

Toronto officials say it is important to keep up to date with vaccinations.

“We really want children to get back on schedule,” said Dr. Dubey. “All adults should have one booster of a pertussis vaccine and in pregnancy as well so people who are pregnant in their second trimester are recommended to get vaccinated so that they can then pass those antibodies to the growing baby.”

“If someone has symptoms of a pertussis, they’ve been diagnosed with pertussis, or maybe they were close contact of someone who had a confirmed case, you can treat that with antibiotics,” she added.