08-04-2025
Concern grows over spread of whooping cough in Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. –There's renewed concern about the spread of whooping cough in the Memphis area.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools confirmed there's been at least one case of whooping cough in the school district and the health department said there have been five cases reported in the county.
Tuesday afternoon, a health expert at Le Bonheur spoke with WREG to give advice to parents and other adults.
At Grahamwood Elementary on Summer Avenue, school is in session as it normally is for students here in the Berclair area.
This comes after MSCS confirmed there's been one case of a student with whooping cough at Grahamwood.
Whooping cough case found at Memphis elementary school
'It's called whooping cough after the characteristic sound that people make when they cough with this illness,' Dr. Sandy Arnold said.
Your News Leader reached out to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital's Dr. Arnold to find out more about whooping cough, also known as pertussis.
'Pertussis is a cough illness and it has a nickname,' Dr. Arnold said. 'That's the 100-day cough.'
Health experts said whooping cough is a bacterial infection that can easily spread from person to person through respiratory droplets.
The Shelby County Health Department confirms with WREG that there have been a total of five cases of whooping cough reported in the county this year.
'Most children who are in public schools are vaccinated, and so they may have a milder, more modified illness if they acquire it because they do have some immunity,' Dr. Arnold said.
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However, pertussis can also be life-threatening.
'The highest risk is to children under 6 months of age,' Dr. Arnold said. 'This is why we recommend that mothers, when they are pregnant that they get [a] pertussis vaccine booster.'
Adults can also get whooping cough.
'And it is no fun, like I said – The 100 Days Cough,' Dr. Arnold said. 'It's unlikely to cause severe enough disease to require hospitalization in an older child or an adult.'
Dr. Arnold said her best advice for parents is to make sure their kids have their shots.
'Obviously, keeping your child up to date on their vaccines, making sure that they get them at the right time,' she said.
Last year, there were only nine cases of whooping cough reported in Shelby County for all of 2024.
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