Pertussis and Measles in the United States
Friday, April 27th, 2012
The nurse depicted in this 2006 image was administering an intramuscular vaccination in the left shoulder muscle to a young girl. The nurse immobilized the girl’s arm by clutching it tightly, while the girl held up her sleeve in order to facilitate the procedure. CDC/ Judy Schmidt
Two deadly childhood illnesses are back in the news. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) raised all sorts of flags over the number of measles cases in the United States last year. The number of pertussis cases, also called whooping cough, is also rising rapidly across the nation.
The CDC publishes the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report every week. In that report is the data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. The latest report is for week 16, ending April 21, 2012.
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