What you need to know about the whooping cough in Ontario

Whooping cough cases are on the rise in parts of Ontario and experts are reminding parents to remain vigilant as the illness can be most dangerous to young children.

Whooping cough cases are on the rise in parts of Ontario and experts are reminding parents to remain vigilant as the illness can be most dangerous to young children.

Earlier this week, the Haliburton, Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit issued an alert about increased whooping cough activity within its school community, asking parents to monitor their child for symptoms.

Ontario Public Health has reported that there have been at least 70 cases of the illness across the province since the start of the year. Cases have steadily climbed the past three years from 16 reported in 2021 to 159 in 2022 and 333 in 2023.

“It looks like year over year there are more cases. There’s definitely a rise but it's not would not be unique to Ontario,” Dr. Isaac Bogoch, infectious diseases specialist at Toronto’s University Health Network told CTV News Toronto. “It’s a bad infection. It's around, sadly more of it is around nowadays and much of this can be mitigated with timely access to vaccinations.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the whooping cough, also known as pertussis

The whooping cough is a very contagious infection caused by the bacteria bordetella pertussis that affects the airways and lungs. It used to be called the "100-day cough" as symptoms can last for months if the illness is left untreated. The whooping cough caused thousands of deaths in the 1930s and 1940s. With the introduction of a vaccine, the death rate declined significantly.

The illness is known to cause coughing spells that end with a characteristic “whoop” as air is inhaled. The cough associated with the illness is usually a violent and rapid one. People sometimes also have sneezing and nasal discharge, as well as sore water eyes. Lips tongue and nailbeds may turn blue during coughing spells.