An illustration of Bacteria Bordetella pertussis which causes whooping cough. Photo: 123RF
Suspected and confirmed cases of whooping cough in Samoa numbered 286 as of 29 December.
Samoa's Director General of Health Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma said 17 of these are confirmed cases.
Aiono said another update is set to be issued by the end of this week.
A whooping cough, or pertussis, outbreak was declared in November last year, shortly after Aotearoa New Zealand also declared an outbreak of the disease.
Health New Zealand said a week before Christmas that vaccination rates for whooping cough were approaching 60 percent, but Māori and Pasifika communities still lagged behind.
"We need to broaden much as possible the opportunities, but we have seen a really significant increase in immunisation uptake...which is the adult pertussis vaccine which we provide to pregnant women.
"We've seen it increase from about a 1000 per week to 2000 per week."
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last month that reports of pertussis cases were lower than usual over the past few years, during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pertussis is common in the United States, with frequent outbreaks.
"In 2024, reported cases of pertussis increased across the United States, indicating a return to more typical trends," it said.
"The number of reported cases [in 2024] is higher than what was seen at the same time in 2019, prior to the pandemic."
