Whooping cough, or pertussis was one of the most common childhood diseases and a major cause of childhood mortality in the United States in the last century.

Before the availability of pertussis vaccine in the 1940s, more than 200,000 cases of pertussis were reported annually. Since widespread use of the vaccine began, incidence has decreased more than 75% compared with the prevaccine era.

However, infections began to rise again in the late 1990s. So what is pertussis and why are rates on the rise again?

Joining me to discuss pertussis is Chandana Bala, Chandana is the President of Global Insight Advisory Network and writes on the intersection of healthcare and technology. She is a frequent writer for Gideon Informatics.