University of Nebraska Medical Center
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Whooping cough cases soar as vaccination rates drop

NBC News In an NBC News data investigation of 31 states, about 70% of counties and jurisdictions fell below the target vaccination rate needed for community protection. At just 2 weeks old, Feleena Owens was struggling to breathe.

The newborn was coughing so badly, her skin turned a sickly gray-blue color. Her face contorted as she tried to gulp air.

“I think the longest she would stop breathing was about 10, 11 seconds,” said her mother, Sophie Owens, 24.

Soon, Feleena was airlifted to Dallas, about 80 miles away from the small city of Sulphur Springs, Texas, near where the Owenses lived at the time.

Fair Use Notice

UNMC Global Center for Health Security staff curate publicly available news and information for educational and informational purposes. Brief excerpts of published articles may be displayed under principles of Fair Use, with credit and links provided to the source publications. All copyrights remain the property of their respective owners.

twitter facebook bluesky email print

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.