Last updated: August 2026. This article is for general information and is not a substitute for personalised advice from your doctor, health visitor, or paediatrician. See our Editorial Policy.
Quick answer: No — CDC’s own pertussis (whooping cough) surveillance data show preliminary 2026 case counts nationally are currently running below the same point in 2025, despite a wave of “back-to-school warning” headlines this month. The real, well-documented story is different: CDC also reported on August 17, 2026 that kindergarten vaccine exemptions hit a record 4.2% nationally for the 2025–2026 school year (up from 3.6% the year before), about 155,000 children, with DTaP — the vaccine that protects against whooping cough — the single lowest-covered shot on the schedule at 92.0%. That combination doesn’t mean a national surge is happening right now, but it does mean more classrooms have pockets of under-vaccinated kids than in past years, which raises the odds of a local cluster reaching an infant too young to be fully protected. Babies under 1 are the ones who get seriously sick from this disease, often without the classic “whoop.”
What’s actually happening nationally right now
A lot of parenting and local-news coverage this back-to-school season has run some version of “whooping cough is surging” — and it’s an understandable read, because pertussis genuinely did surge in 2024. But CDC’s own pertussis surveillance page, last reviewed July 10, 2026, is specific: preliminary data show fewer cases have been reported so far in 2026 compared with the same point in 2025, and reported cases have been trending down since a peak in November 2024. To put that peak in context, CDC’s historical data shows 2024 saw more than six times as many reported cases as 2023, and more cases than in 2019, before the pandemic. 2025 stayed elevated compared with pre-pandemic years but continued the downward trend from the late-2024 peak.
So the honest national picture for late August 2026 is: still circulating, still capable of local flare-ups (CDC notes much of the disease likely goes unrecognized and unreported in the first place), but not currently spiking the way it was two years ago. If you’ve seen a headline this month warning of a pertussis “surge,” it’s almost certainly describing the 2024 peak being recirculated or referencing a specific local cluster, not a live national 2026 trend.
The story underneath the headlines: record vaccine exemptions
While national case counts aren’t spiking, CDC’s SchoolVaxView report — updated August 17, 2026, covering the 2025–2026 school year — documents a real and continuing decline in the layer of protection that keeps pertussis from spreading in schools:
- Exemptions from one or more vaccines hit 4.2% of kindergartners nationally, up from 3.6% the prior year — about 155,000 children entering kindergarten with at least one vaccine exemption.
- Exemptions rose in 41 states and Washington, D.C., and 24 states now report exemption rates above 5%.
- Vaccination coverage fell for every routinely reported vaccine, ranging from 92.0% for DTaP (diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis — the shot that specifically protects against whooping cough) up to 92.4% for MMR and polio. Coverage for MMR, DTaP, polio, and varicella dropped in more than half of all states compared with the year before.
- About 280,000 kindergartners started the school year without documentation of a completed MMR series.
DTaP being the lowest-covered vaccine on the list matters specifically for this story: it’s the one standing between a classroom and a pertussis cluster. None of this means your child’s specific school is affected — coverage varies enormously by state and even by district — but it does mean the national safety margin around pertussis is thinner than it’s been in recent years, at the exact time of year (start of school) when respiratory illnesses spread fastest between kids.
Why this hits hardest for babies under 1
Older kids and adults with whooping cough usually just have a long, miserable cough. Babies are a different story, and it’s worth knowing the specifics before symptoms show up, not after:
Whooping cough starts like a common cold — runny nose, sneezing, a mild cough, low-grade fever — for about one to two weeks. Then it gets worse: violent coughing spells, sometimes ending in the classic “whoop” sound on the inhale, or vomiting. But many babies and young infants don’t do the whoop at all. Instead, they may gasp for air, turn red, purple, or blue, or simply stop breathing for a few seconds (apnea) — which can look nothing like a “cough” to a parent watching it happen. The illness itself is long: roughly one to two weeks of cold symptoms followed by up to three months of severe coughing, with a gradual recovery that can stretch even further in some children.
Whooping cough is highly contagious — spread through coughing, sneezing, even laughing — and an infected person is most contagious in the early weeks, remaining so for up to two to three weeks after the cough starts, or until five days into antibiotic treatment. Because babies under 1 are at the greatest risk of serious complications, call your doctor immediately if you suspect whooping cough or a known exposure, even if vaccines are up to date — that includes if your baby’s skin or lips turn red, purple, or blue during a cough, throws up after coughing fits, or makes a whooping sound. Treat it as a medical emergency and get care right away if your baby has trouble breathing, has any pause in breathing (apnea), seems unusually sluggish, or shows signs of dehydration (dry mouth, no tears when crying, fewer wet diapers) — those are the signs that mean don’t wait for a callback.
The vaccine-timing detail most parents miss: “cocooning”
Full DTaP protection takes years to build — it’s a five-dose series given before a child’s sixth birthday — which leaves a real gap for babies too young to be fully vaccinated. That’s exactly why the CDC and pediatric guidance both emphasize a second strategy alongside the child’s own shots: vaccinating the people around the baby.
Specifically, Tdap (the adult/adolescent pertussis booster) is recommended for every pregnant woman during the second half of each pregnancy — every pregnancy, not just the first — so antibodies pass to the baby before birth and cover the earliest, most vulnerable weeks. Beyond that, anyone in close contact with a new baby — partners, grandparents, siblings 11+, caregivers — should be current on their Tdap booster, since adult immunity fades over time even in someone who was vaccinated as a child. This “cocooning” approach is the practical answer to “my baby can’t be fully vaccinated yet — now what,” and it’s worth raising explicitly at a prenatal visit or the baby’s first pediatric appointment rather than assuming it’s automatically covered.
The bottom line
Two things are true at once this back-to-school season, and conflating them is where the scary headlines come from: pertussis case counts are not currently surging nationally in 2026 — they’re actually down year-over-year, per CDC’s own preliminary data — but the vaccination coverage that normally keeps outbreaks small and local has gotten measurably thinner, with kindergarten exemptions at a record high and DTaP the weakest-covered shot on the schedule. Neither fact cancels the other out. For a family with a baby under 1, the practical response isn’t panic about a national surge that isn’t (yet) happening — it’s making sure the people around that baby, especially anyone who was pregnant this year, are current on Tdap, and knowing the specific warning signs (color changes, pauses in breathing, vomiting after coughing) that mean “call the doctor now” rather than “wait it out,” since babies this age often skip the textbook “whoop” entirely.
For the other major school-season respiratory decisions, see our guides to the 2026–27 flu shot recommendations and RSV immunization timing for babies — worth planning alongside a Tdap conversation if you’re organizing a family’s autumn appointments in one trip.
Sources
- CDC — Pertussis Surveillance and Trends (last reviewed July 10, 2026)
- CDC — SchoolVaxView: Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions among Kindergartners (updated August 17, 2026)
- Nemours KidsHealth — Whooping Cough (Pertussis)
- CDC — Whooping Cough Vaccination
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