Can pertussis affect older people? Yes, it poses unique risks.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2019, nearly a quarter of reported whooping cough cases in the US were in people aged 20 and older. This statistic highlights a crucial, often underestimated, public health issue: the answer to "Can pertussis affect older people?" is a definitive yes. While commonly perceived as a childhood ailment, whooping cough can be a serious and prolonged illness for older adults, often leading to more severe complications due to their immune response and presence of comorbidities.