Bill would require more information on whooping cough

A year after the state saw a rise in whooping cough cases, an Augusta lawmaker is proposing that hospitals be required to give information about the disease and its vaccine to parents of newborns.

Pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, is a bacterial disease of the respiratory tract that can cause serious illness in infants and those with weakened immune systems. Three infants died from pertussis in Georgia between 2001 and 2005.

House Bill 249, sponsored by Augusta Republican Rep. Barbara Sims, would make hospitals tell parents of newborns about the disease and the availability of a vaccine.