I have heard my grandmother mention how when she was a “girl” (meaning back when she was a young child in Louisiana)…how people would get whooping cough. She said she had it and would cough! cough! cough!…she said her grandmother would make tea made from herbs. She said she doesn’t remember it affecting adults and that mostly children got it.

To date I’ve only heard my grandmother talk about whooping cough. I guess that’s because most people today have been vaccinated for it. (Back then… my grandmother said there was no going to the doctor…so even if a vaccine was available most people didn’t have access). But something we should keep in mind is that after a while the vaccination is no longer effective. So if you were vaccinated for whooping cough back in 1975 what does that mean now?

Well here we are in 2010 and California has just declared a Whooping Cough Epidemic. According to recent reports more than 3 babies have died and more than 1000 cases have been documented.