Authorities say Pasadena residents tested their babies’ coughs for highly contagious respiratory illness after visiting the Kidspace Children’s Museum last week.
Pasadena Public Health Department announced the infection Thursday, as cough cases continue to rise across the United States. More than 8,470 cases were reported nationwide in 2025, twice as many as those reported in the same period last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health officials warn anyone who visits Kidspace from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on April 25 to monitor their families, especially children, for symptoms such as runny noses, low-grade fevers and dyspnea.
Anyone who is ill after visiting the museum on this window is urged to visit their health care providers and avoid contact with babies and pregnant women. A nasal swab can be used to confirm the infection.
Health officials say patients at high risk, such as babies under 1 year old and pregnant women, even if they do not show preventive antibiotics.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whooping cough is caused by a bacteria called Bordetella budtussis, which attacks the upper respiratory system and can cause airway swelling.
Symptoms usually start five days to three weeks after exposure, with mild colds less than 100.4 degrees. In severe cases, the symptoms develop into a cough that causes wheezing or vomiting. The baby may not show a noticeable cough, but instead turns blue, red, or gag due to dyspnea.
California had more than four times the number of cough cases last year, according to the state Department of Health – from 644 in 2023 to 2,753 in 2024, according to the state Department of Health. Two Louisiana babies and a five-year-old Washington baby have died of the disease over the past six months.
Vaccine with cough. As early as 2 months old, the baby got the first of a series of DTAP shots, which also prevented diphtheria and tetanus. The vaccine is vaccinated at 4 months, 6 months, and then again at 15 to 18 months, when the child is between 4 and 6 years old.
The vaccine series is part of the admission immunization requirements in all 50 states, and pregnant women are advised to use boosters.
Experts attribute the increase in infections to lower vaccination rates. Last year, the national share of children with exemptions from school admissions reached an all-time high of 3.3%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Unfortunately, anti-vaccine sentiment in the United States has increased,” Dr. Ericka Hayes, who works at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, told the Associated Press. “Our recovery is not as fast as we expected, and we need it. Again, when you drop to 95% of vaccination with 95% you lose the immune protection of this feeding.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
