Whooping cough wave now worst in almost a decade amid back-to-school surge

This year's resurgence of whooping cough cases has now accelerated to the fastest pace on record in nearly a decade, according to figures published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as pertussis infections are now again climbing around the country during the back-to-school season.

A total of 291 cases were reported for the week ending on Sept. 14, the CDC says. New York has reported the most cases this week of any state, with 44 infections. Ohio, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma have also reported at least 38 cases each.

This now marks the most infections of the bacteria Bordatella pertussis reported to the CDC in a single week since 2015, when the country was coming off a resurgence of whooping cough cases that had peaked the year before.