CBS News Health officials are warning about the rise of multiple infections this season — especially among school-aged children — including whooping cough and walking pneumonia.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been about four times as many cases of whooping cough this year compared to last year.
On “CBS Mornings Plus” Tuesday, CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook explained that whooping cough is especially dangerous because of the small airways of infants and young kids.
“The reason why it’s called whooping cough — it’s a cough, cough, cough, cough, and then they gasp for air, that’s the whoop,” he said. “As an adult, when you get it, you may be sick, but probably going to be OK in terms of moving air in and out of your body. With infants, airways are so small that they can really have trouble breathing at all.”