Whooping Cough Rates Rise as Vaccine's Effectiveness Wanes

While much of California worries about flu season, whooping cough rates are rising again. Last week, state health officials confirmed the first death in three years from whooping cough, an infant in Riverside. Whooping cough is cyclical in nature and tends to peak every three to five years. But doctors suspect the current outbreak has another contributing factor: the waning effectiveness of a new vaccine.