Mirroring national trends, the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) is reporting an increase in whooping cough (pertussis) cases that could result in a record high for 2025. The Department has identified 164 cases in the first four months of 2025. In comparison, Louisiana had a total of 153 cases in 2024.
Whooping cough is a naturally occurring disease in the U.S. and Louisiana with predictable increases in reported cases every few years.
The significant spread of whooping cough is leading to a corresponding increase in reported hospitalizations and deaths. Since September 2024, 40 people in Louisiana have been hospitalized with whooping cough. Seventy percent of those hospitalizations have occurred among babies younger than one year old. Two deaths have occurred among young infants hospitalized with whooping cough. These were the first whooping cough deaths reported in Louisiana since 2018.