8 whooping cough cases, all involving children, reported in Lexington
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Eight pertussis cases reported in Fayette County, mostly school-aged children.
- First case emerged Oct. 3, majority of cases reported by Oct. 24, 2025.
- Health department urges vaccination, hygiene and symptom recognition to limit spread.
Eight whooping cough cases, all involving children, have been reported to the Lexington-Fayette County Health department since the beginning of October, department spokesperson Clark Bradshaw said Monday.
The first case was reported Oct. 3, but the majority were reported as of Oct. 24, Bradshaw said. Seven of the cases were reported in school-aged children, and the other involved a 1-year-old baby.
Two of the school-aged children were students Lafayette High School, and two attended Paul Laurence Dunbar. One attended Landsdowne Elementary, and one attended Lexington Christian Academy.
The most recent case was reported Monday, and Bradshaw said the health department doesn’t know yet where that child attends school.
There are no known connections between the cases, Bradshaw said.
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly infectious bacterial disease involving the respiratory tract. It is caused by bacteria found in the mouth, nose and throat of an infected person.
There was a whopping cough outbreak in Fayette County in spring 2024, with at least 24 confirmed cases.
The early symptoms are similar to a common cold, but the cough often gets worse after one to two weeks, changing from a dry, hacking cough to bursts of uncontrollable, sometimes violent, coughing, according to the health department.
Recognizing early symptoms will not only help people get treatment and get better sooner, it reduces the risk of spreading the disease to others. The best way to prevent the spread of whooping cough is to ensure you’re up-to-date on the vaccine.
Good hygiene also can help limit the spread.
Whooping cough vaccines
The pertussis vaccine is part of the routine childhood vaccination series and is required for schools in Kentucky. As explained by the Cleveland Clinic, there are two types of whooping cough/pertussis vaccines — the initial DTaP and the booster Tdap shots.
The first variety, the DTaP vaccines, protects young children from diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. According to the clinic, by the age of 7, a child should receive five shots of the pertussis vaccine.
Additionally, preteens, teens and adults should get a Tdap booster vaccines every 10 years, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The rate of Kentucky children who have received all five DTaP doses by age 6 varies from 10.52% on the low end to 38.68% on the high end, according to the Immunize Kentucky Coalition, citing state immunization registry data from 2020.
Nearly 20% of Fayette County 6-year-olds have received five doses of the DTaP vaccine, giving them a high rate of protection against pertussis until their preteens, when immunity begins to wane and a booster dose is recommended.
Jefferson County, Kentucky’s most populous county, also has the lowest five-dose DTaP vaccination rate in the state, with just 10.52% of 6-year-olds having received all five doses. The highest, at 38.68%, is Grayson County in the southwest portion of the state.
