Hawaii health officials have confirmed 5 cases of whooping cough among an unvaccinated family, including one child who was hospitalized.
The family had traveled from the mainland US and stayed in Oahu.
“The family had traveled from the United States mainland and stayed at a hotel accommodation on Oahu,” the Hawaii Department of Health stated, noting that the investigation has “identified no close contacts after the family’s arrival in Hawaii.”
It is the first whooping cough cases in Hawaii since last March, with 89 total reported since 2019.
The whooping cough is a “highly contagious respiratory infection caused by bacteria” that can “cause severe coughing fits (up to 10 weeks or more), followed by a high-pitched ‘whoop’ sound when breathing in,” the Department of Health wrote.
“Whooping cough can lead to serious complications, especially in infants, such as pneumonia, dehydration, seizures, and brain damage. Infants may not cough at all,” it said. “Instead, they may have apnea (life-threatening pauses in breathing) or struggle to breathe.”
Health officials are working with the CDC and other states to notify exposed travelers and recommend vaccination as the best protection.
They advise seeing a doctor with symptoms like fever, struggling to breathe or violent coughing.
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