Since the COVID shutdown ended, flu season has become increasingly hard on young children. Influenza A and B, as well as RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), all affect the lungs, and young children often have a difficult time fighting off the fever and congestion that come along with these viruses. This is especially true for a child or youth of any age who has a complex medical issue. Now there is an additional health concern to watch out for: Whooping Cough.
Brief Overview
- Gain an understanding of the increased risk for Flu, COVID, and Whooping Cough.
- What are the potential long-term health concerns?
- What is Whooping Cough?
- What ages are at the highest risk?
- Best practices for care.
What is Whooping Cough?
Whooping Cough (the scientific name is “pertussis”), a childhood illness that was rarely seen (15 cases in 2021), continues to rise in Washington State, with over 2,049 cases having been reported by December 2025, surpassing what the Washington Department of Health considers to be the “epidemic” level. Whooping Cough is a bacterial infection that spreads very quickly, just like COVID did. It can start out with mild symptoms that look like a cold, so it seems like just another childhood cold. The difference comes in the second week, when the cough worsens and long, severe fits develop. Whooping Cough can last several weeks, sometimes months. Those most at risk for severe health impacts are infants, newborns, and those with asthma, other lung diseases, or heart conditions.
What Ages Are at Highest Risk?
While all ages can get sick with Whooping Cough, infants and babies who get the disease are at serious risk of hospitalization. Around a third of babies, aged one and younger, who get Whooping Cough have to be hospitalized. Most of the hospitalizations are due to Apnea or Pneumonia, but in rare cases, convulsions and a disease of the brain called encephalopathy occur. 1% of babies who need hospitalization due to Whooping Cough will die. Older children and adults are still at risk, but their chance of getting hospitalized or dying is significantly less.
Best Practices for Care
There are various ways to find out whether your child’s illness is the flu, COVID, a cold, or Whooping Cough. Combined flu and COVID at-home tests are available at many pharmacies if you don’t have a regular pediatrician. A Whooping Cough test needs to be done at an Urgent Care or doctor’s office, and it is important to let them know what your child is being tested for, so they can be in a separate room from other patients.
If your child has a pre-existing condition that can cause complications due to illness, you can talk with the doctor about what might be best to combat COVID or the flu. There are some medications if things are caught early enough. The same is also true for the antibiotics used to treat Whooping Cough. If a child or an adult is diagnosed early enough, antibiotics can be very effective. Later in the progression of the illness, antibiotics don’t work as well against bacteria, but they do help reduce the spread of the disease.
Immunization rates since the COVID-19 shutdown have never recovered, and there is a lot of conflicting information about vaccines. However, the CDC states that immunization is the most effective childhood disease-prevention method with the lowest long-term health impact for both the child and the community. If you choose an alternative to vaccination, masking, and isolating when symptoms appear, using many of the methods used during COVID can be considered a way to protect the community as you care for your child.
Additional Information
Below are links to information on Whooping Cough, Pediatric RSV, and Influenza care.