Two babies in Kentucky have lost their lives to pertussis, also known as whooping cough, as recently reported by the Kentucky Department for Public Health. These deaths, the first pertussis-related since 2018, have refocused attention on a resurging danger once thought largely brought under control in America- vaccine-preventable illnesses.

With over 10,000 cases reported across the country in the first six months of 2025, close to twice as many as the same six months a year ago public health officials are warning an alarm. The epidemic, which tracks with trends in other diseases like measles, coincides with declining childhood vaccination rates, anti-vaccination sentiment, and pandemic-period interruptions of routine vaccination activities.

Whooping cough is a very contagious respiratory infection that is brought on by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, originally described in 1906 by French scientists. Nevertheless, centuries ago, there were mentions of the illness—its earliest probable epidemic was seen in Paris in 1578.

The disease is notorious for its intense, hacking cough that is followed by a piercingly high-pitched "whoop" upon inhalation. In newborns, particularly those too young to be vaccinated, pertussis may cause lethal complications such as pneumonia, seizures, and respiratory distress. Some doctors call it "the 100-day cough" because its duration lasts for many weeks or even months.

According to the World Health Organization, pertussis still causes approximately 160,700 deaths annually in children under the age of five worldwide, a statistic that highlights the ongoing global burden of the disease, especially in settings with limited vaccine coverage.

The two infants who perished in Kentucky in the last six months were not vaccinated, and neither were their mothers while pregnant. These events highlight a key gap in protection that maternal vaccination seeks to close. Babies under 6 weeks are too young to get their first dose of pertussis vaccine, and so remain extremely exposed early in life.

Third-trimester maternal immunization allows for the passing on of protective antibodies to the newborn, protecting them until they are of age to start their own vaccine regimen. Without the added layer of protection, there is a marked increase in risk of severe illness or mortality.

Through June 2025, the U.S. has reported a minimum of 8,485 confirmed cases of pertussis, already passing the 4,266 cases reported for the same period in 2024. For 2024, as reported by the CDC, a combined total of 35,435 cases were reported—more than five times that of 2023 and close to twice that of 2019, the final year before the pandemic.

Kentucky alone has reported 247 cases of pertussis through 2025, after reporting 543 cases in 2024—the largest number in the state since 2012. Across the country, from October 2024 through April 2025, four deaths from pertussis have been reported: two infants, one school-age child, and one adult.

Why Are Whooping Cough Cases Increasing Again?

The return of pertussis in the United States is being fueled by a mix of related factors. One major cause is the cyclical pattern of the disease, since pertussis has epidemic patterns with episodes peaking every two to five years. Although such peaks are anticipated, experts note that the current peak is more severe compared to what is normally seen during normal peaks. Post-pandemic immunity gap is also a crucial factor. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that occurred during 2020 and 2022, pertussis rates decreased significantly because of widespread public health interventions like masking, physical distancing, and closing schools. Since those measures are no longer in effect, numerous persons including children who were left unvaccinated or were missed during their periodic vaccinations since then are now at increased risk for infection. Adding to this problem is the decrease in vaccination coverage, driven by increased misinformation, increased skepticism about the vaccine, and interruptions in access to health care. That decline in immunization, especially in infants and pregnant women, is one of the most urgent priorities driving the national epidemic of pertussis.

How Effective Are Vaccines Against Pertussis?

The pertussis vaccine itself has changed dramatically over the years since it was first introduced in the U.S. in 1914.

Today's acellular form—DTaP for infants and children and Tdap for teens and adults—was introduced in the 1990s as a way to reduce side effects like seizures and high fevers that were caused by the older whole-cell vaccine. Although the acellular vaccine offers robust protection initially, the immunity fades with time. During the first year after completion of the five-dose course of childhood pertussis vaccination, some 98% of children are protected against pertussis.

By the fifth year after the last dose, however, that immunity declines to roughly 65%. This drop highlights the necessity of booster shots in young adulthood and adolescence to ensure sustained protection. While immunity from the current vaccine is not long-term, it still represents the best weapon against severe disease, complications, and mortality. The unvaccinated are 13 times more likely to develop pertussis compared to their vaccinated counterparts, and they have much greater risks of being hospitalized or killed by the disease.

Who Should Be Vaccinated, and When?

The CDC and other top public health organizations suggest:

Infants: Shots at 2, 4, and 6 months, with boosters at 15 months and 4 years.

Adolescents: A Tdap booster dose at 11 or 12 years.

Adults: One Tdap booster in adulthood, with re-vaccination every 10 years.

Pregnant Women: One dose of Tdap between weeks 27–36 of every pregnancy to confer immunity to the newborn through passive antibody transfer.

Local health departments might even suggest extra boosters for people who reside in outbreak-facilitating areas particularly on the West Coast, where states such as California, Washington, and Oregon have seen high case totals this year.

How Can You Protect Yourself and Your Family?

The increase in pertussis cases—and its disastrous effect on babies—underscores the necessity of public education, uniform messaging by health workers, and availability of immunization services. Parents and caregivers should be motivated to keep their own and children's vaccination schedules up to date, especially in communities where disease outbreaks are reported.

Clinicians have a key role in advising maternal immunization and informing families about the signs of whooping cough, which is likely to be confused with the common cold at its initial onset.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to Inlexzo (gemcitabine intravesical system) for the treatment of certain types of bladder cancer. This decision marks a milestone for patients with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), particularly those living with carcinoma in situ (CIS), with or without papillary tumors.

Unlike systemic therapies, Inlexzo works through a novel drug-releasing intravesical system designed for extended local delivery of gemcitabine into the bladder. For patients who wish to preserve their bladder and avoid radical surgery, the approval opens a long-awaited alternative.

Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States, disproportionately affecting older adults. Patients with NMIBC often start with BCG immunotherapy, the gold standard treatment. While many respond well initially, a significant proportion develop resistance or fail to sustain remission.

For these patients, the only widely recommended option has been radical cystectomy—a surgery to remove the bladder. Though effective, the procedure carries high risks, including a 3–8 percent post-surgical mortality rate, long recovery periods, and significant impact on quality of life. Many older patients are either unfit or unwilling to undergo the operation.

What this really means is that patients who have exhausted BCG therapy have been left with limited, often life-altering choices. Inlexzo offers a chance to delay or avoid bladder removal while still pursuing effective treatment.

The FDA’s approval was based on results from the SunRISe-1 phase 2b trial, a single-arm, open-label study. Findings showed:

• 82 percent of patients achieved a complete response following treatment.
• 51 percent of those maintained their response for at least a year.

Dr. Sia Daneshmand, principal investigator of SunRISe-1 and a urologic oncologist at the University of Southern California, emphasized the significance of these results, “I see many patients that ultimately become BCG-unresponsive and often face life-altering bladder removal. In my experience, Inlexzo is well tolerated and delivers clinically meaningful results. This will change the way we treat appropriate patients that haven’t responded to traditional therapy.”

Such durability of response signals a meaningful step forward in NMIBC care, particularly for patients for whom cystectomy is not feasible.

What Is Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC)?

NMIBC represents a subset of bladder cancers confined to the inner lining of the bladder wall. It is categorized as low, intermediate, or high risk, depending on tumor size, multiplicity, and the presence of CIS. Approximately 10 percent of NMIBC patients are diagnosed with CIS, a flat but aggressive form of cancer that requires close management.

The reliance on BCG has long been the standard of care, but when patients become unresponsive, treatment options have been scarce. Radical cystectomy has remained the fallback. The approval of Inlexzo helps close a treatment gap that has persisted for decades.

How Inlexzo Works?

Inlexzo is not a traditional infusion or oral drug. It uses a drug-eluting intravesical system, placed inside the bladder during a short, office-based procedure. It does not require general anesthesia and begins releasing gemcitabine immediately, maintaining extended exposure directly to the bladder tissue. This approach is significant for two reasons:

• It keeps the chemotherapy localized, limiting systemic exposure.
• It allows for continuous therapeutic action without repeated, invasive interventions.
• For many patients, this translates into a treatment that is not only effective but also easier to tolerate and less disruptive to daily life.

Risks, Safety, and Limitations

While Inlexzo is a major advancement, it is not without risks. The FDA has issued clear precautions:

• Patients with bladder perforations or compromised bladder lining should not receive Inlexzo, as systemic exposure to gemcitabine may cause severe reactions.
• Delaying cystectomy in patients with persistent CIS could increase the risk of progression to muscle-invasive or metastatic bladder cancer, which is often lethal.
• MRI safety is limited to specific conditions, requiring close adherence to guidelines.

Reproductive risks include embryo-fetal toxicity and potential male infertility, based on animal studies. Women are advised to avoid pregnancy during treatment and for at least a week after device removal.

The most common side effects include urinary frequency, infections, bladder irritation, and blood in the urine. Serious adverse events occurred in 24 percent of patients, with 1.2 percent experiencing fatal outcomes, though these were rare.

Is This System A Patient-Centered Shift in Bladder Cancer Care?

Bladder cancer disproportionately impacts older adults—72 percent of patients in the SunRISe-1 study were over 65 years old. For this group, surgery carries heightened risks. Inlexzo’s approval gives clinicians a new tool to help manage NMIBC without immediately resorting to bladder removal.

As Dr. Daneshmand noted, this drug-delivery innovation may change the treatment landscape by filling a crucial gap in care. For patients who have exhausted BCG and face limited choices, Inlexzo offers hope for improved survival and quality of life.

Inlexzo’s approval is a win not only for patients but also for the field of urologic oncology. The drug’s placement under Johnson & Johnson’s portfolio signals strong industry investment in localized, bladder-preserving therapies.

Experts caution, however, that long-term follow-up studies will be essential to fully understand Inlexzo’s durability, risks, and potential role in combination with other therapies. For now, the FDA’s decision gives patients an urgently needed option that bridges the gap between immunotherapy failure and radical surgery.

When it comes to tackling chronic disease, the United States is lagging behind its peers. A new study published in The Lancet reveals that among 25 high-income Western countries, the US has shown the slowest progress in reducing deaths from noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

The research, led by Imperial College London, analyzed mortality data from 185 countries between 2010 and 2019. While most nations reported overall declines in the probability of dying before age 80 from chronic disease, the US not only saw smaller reductions compared with other wealthy countries but also a troubling rise in deaths among younger adults aged 20 to 45.

The data show that between 2010 and 2019, deaths from chronic disease decreased in most US age groups but increased among young adults, a rare and alarming trend for a high-income country. Researchers describe this as “a rare phenomenon in high-income Western countries,” suggesting that the problem is systemic, not just demographic.

Majid Ezzati, the study’s senior author and professor of global health at Imperial, explained that while older Americans benefited from improved treatments and detection for heart disease and cancer, younger generations faced new and worsening risks including obesity, alcohol use disorders, and neuropsychiatric conditions like dementia.

The global picture provides a stark contrast. Roughly 80 percent of countries saw reductions in chronic disease mortality during the past decade, covering more than 70 percent of the world’s population. Denmark led the high-income group with the steepest decline, followed closely by Norway and Finland. Germany performed poorly as well, showing only slightly better results than the US.

While all high-income countries experienced a slowdown in the rate of decline compared to earlier decades, the United States stood out for its stagnation in working-age adults and actual increases in younger adults. Other countries managed to balance slower declines in older age groups with sharper improvements in working-age populations, but the US did not.

Why Is the US Falling Behind in Mortality?

The study did not dive into root causes, but experts point to a combination of health system and social factors:

Healthcare access and disparities: Millions of Americans lack consistent primary care, delaying diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions. Without a physician close to home, routine screenings often fall through the cracks.

Social determinants of health: Income inequality, food insecurity, and limited access to healthy lifestyles all disproportionately affect younger and working-age adults.

Rise in neuropsychiatric conditions: While cancer and heart disease deaths declined, increases in dementia, alcohol use disorders, and mental health-related conditions offset gains.

Obesity and lifestyle factors: Rising rates of obesity, poor diets, and sedentary behavior have made chronic diseases harder to control, particularly among younger people.

Ezzati emphasized that underinvestment in public health is a common denominator. “In both the US and Germany, there are segments of the population in which there has been less investment in public health, and these disparities in investment can lead to broad barriers to accessing care,” he said.

Is This A Global Slowdown, Not Just an American Problem?

The US may be the slowest among wealthy nations, but it is not alone in struggling. Nearly two-thirds of all countries saw slower progress in reducing chronic disease mortality during 2010–2019 compared with the previous decade.

In northern Europe, for example, Denmark and Finland reported slower improvements among older adults, but these were offset by faster progress among working-age adults. That balance prevented them from stagnating as the US did.

Globally, the slowdown raises concerns about whether countries will meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal of reducing premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases by one-third by 2030.

So what sets top performers like Denmark apart? Researchers credit strong investment in preventive health, early detection, and broad access to primary care. Comprehensive strategies for cardiovascular disease prevention, aggressive anti-smoking campaigns, and early cancer screening programs have made a measurable impact.

By contrast, the US has struggled to implement nationwide preventive programs. Even when effective interventions exist — like lifestyle counseling, preventive screenings, and access to affordable medications, barriers in insurance coverage, geography, and affordability keep many Americans from benefiting.

Perhaps the most sobering aspect of the study is that progress is slowing not just in the US but worldwide. Improvements in diagnosis and treatment that once drove sharp declines in chronic disease deaths may be reaching their limits. Unless new strategies are adopted — especially those that reach disadvantaged populations — gains could stall entirely or even reverse.

For the US, where chronic diseases already account for 6 in 10 deaths, the message is clear: without significant investment in prevention and equitable healthcare access, the gap with peer nations will only widen.

Ezzati summed up the findings with a blunt warning, “The risk of dying from chronic diseases in most countries in the world is coming down. But we were doing better before.”

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi has created a new mental health program called "Never Alone." The program was launched on World Suicide Prevention Day to directly address the serious issue of student suicides and to improve mental health awareness.

"Never Alone" is an AI-based tool designed to help students who may be struggling with suicidal thoughts and other mental health challenges. Its main goal is to reduce the negative social stigma that often prevents people from seeking help and to make it easier for them to access professional support.

How the App Works?

The "Never Alone" app is a very secure and personalized program that students can use anytime, day or night. It works through a web app that can be easily accessed via WhatsApp. For a very low cost of just 70 paisa per student per day, institutions can subscribe to the service and offer it to their students.

Also Read: Physiotherapists Are Not Doctors, Cannot Use ‘Dr’ Title, Rules Health Authority In India

The app provides a secure mental health screening and gives students access to both online and in-person consultations with trained mental health experts. This setup makes getting help more convenient and private, which can be very important for students who might feel uncomfortable talking about their struggles in person.

Growing Crisis Among Young Adults

This program was launched to tackle a serious national problem. According to government data, in 2022, more than 1.7 lakh people died by suicide in India. What's especially concerning is that a large portion of these deaths—35%—were among young adults between the ages of 18 and 30.

Experts say a big reason for this is that many people with mental health issues don't get the help they need. This is often due to a lack of awareness and the fear of being judged by others. The "Never Alone" app aims to fill this gap by providing a confidential and accessible way for students to get support.