The U.S. has recorded five times as many cases of the respiratory illness as compared to the same time last year.

Whooping cough cases were lower than usual during the pandemic — but with the return to normalcy comes a spike in cases.

Pregnant women are being urged to get a whooping cough jab after an increase in cases. In Redcar there were 20 cases of the infection in the last year compared to none the previous year and Middlesbrough there was a rise from one to 45 in the same period.

As of Sept. 21, 1,058 cases of the highly contagious respiratory disease have been reported in the state this year; in 2023, there were only 230. Cases of whooping cough spike in the fall, alongside RSV and COVID-19,

In Illinois, 1,058 cases have been reported so far this year, compared to just 199 at this time last year. Dr. David Nguyen, an infectious diseases specialist at Rush University System for Health, says whooping cough can be dangerous with infants.