Whooping cough claims nine lives in California

LOS ANGELES - Over 190 people were hospitalised and nine, all of them babies under three months old, died of whooping cough in California state in the US this year, the state department of public health has said.

Of 196 patients hospitalised with whooping cough in California, 74 percent were infants under six months old, the department said Thursday.

This year marks the highest number of whooping cough cases in California since widespread vaccination efforts began in the 1940s, Xinhua reported.

California has had the most cases of whooping cough since 1955, with 4,017 cases reported, according to the department.

“There are a lot of people who aren’t fully immunized,” said Jonathan Fielding, director of the Los Angeles county department of public health.

“People with respiratory conditions and cold-like conditions should not have contact with small infants.”