Tag Archives: Whooping Cough

At Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, beginning on Wednesday, senators are expected to question him closely about his controversial views on vaccines. For years Mr. Kennedy has questioned the safety of vaccines, including those for polio and measles, two diseases that continue to harm children. More recently, he has said that he’s not planning to take vaccines away from …

When President Bill Clinton worked with a bipartisan Congress to enact a federal program to guarantee vaccines for poor children, they agreed that the authority over buying shots from drug makers should rest with the health secretary. The bill’s drafters did not consider that an extremely vocal critic of childhood vaccines would emerge as a nominee for the role. That …

There were more than 32,000 cases of whooping cough in 2024, the highest tally in a decade. In California alone, the disease struck 2,000 people between January and October last year. More than 60 infants younger than 4 months were hospitalized in the state. One died. Whooping cough, or pertussis, is just the most stark example of what happens when …