U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, has reached out to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seeking his support in addressing a significant pertussis outbreak in Louisiana.
“In my state of Louisiana, we are experiencing the worst pertussis outbreak in 35 years. The outbreak has already killed two babies,” wrote Dr. Cassidy.
Cassidy emphasized the need for collaboration to contain the spread of whooping cough and highlighted the importance of vaccination efforts.
“I want to work together to stop pertussis. Your strong public support for this vaccine will save lives,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “Families responded to your decisive leadership when you clearly promoted the MMR vaccine to stop the outbreak in West Texas. They would respond again to your call that the DTaP vaccine is the best way to protect our babies.”
In his letter, Cassidy referenced provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that there have been 368 reported cases in Louisiana so far this year, with most hospitalizations involving infants under one year old. He noted that other states are also facing similar outbreaks.
Cassidy pointed out previous efforts by Secretary Kennedy during a measles outbreak in West Texas earlier this year: “As the lead health official in the nation, you encouraged families to get the MMR vaccine to protect their children. You rightly said, ‘[v]accines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.’ I thank you for encouraging children to get vaccinated and leading HHS’s efforts to address this outbreak.” He added that “the same is true for pertussis,” citing data showing that 75 percent of those hospitalized were either unvaccinated or not up-to-date on vaccinations.
The letter also referenced President Trump’s recent remarks supporting vaccines: “President Trump recently declared unequivocally ‘you have vaccines that work. They just pure and simple work. They’re not controversial at all… And when you don’t have controversy at all, I think people should take it.’ The DTaP vaccine protects babies against dying from pertussis, and, like the MMR vaccine, is safe and effective.”
Cassidy concluded by urging Secretary Kennedy to publicly reaffirm his support for DTaP vaccination: “Your words are a powerful tool in protecting the health of the American people… We can ensure that no child dies from a vaccine-preventable disease. I ask that you publicly reaffirm your support for the DTaP vaccine, so that Louisiana families, and families across the United States, confidently know that taking the vaccine is safe and may save their child’s life.”
