Mississippi Reports First Infant Whooping Cough Death Since 2012

The Mississippi State Department of Health announced an infant under two months old has died from pertussis (whooping cough), the state's first pediatric death since 2012 and the third since 2008. Mississippi has recorded 115 pertussis cases so far in 2025, up from 49 in 2024 and the highest level in at least a decade; the CDC reports more than 20,000 U.S. cases this year. The baby was too young to receive DTaP, and MSDH officials, including Dr. Dan (Daniel) Edney, urged pregnant women, grandparents and other close contacts to get Tdap boosters and for clinicians to consider pertussis because adult immunity wanes. Officials and reporters have linked falling child vaccination rates — in part to a 2023 federal ruling allowing religious school exemptions for attendance at some schools — to reduced community immunity and the current rise in cases. MSDH reiterated that vaccination is the safest protection, recommended antibiotics when prescribed, and advised routine precautions such as staying home when ill and covering coughs.