Whooping cough caused an estimated 115,000 deaths worldwide in 2023, despite a long-term decline in the disease's incidence and mortality rates. A new Global Burden of Disease study published in Nature Medicine estimates that the world recorded 18.9 million cases that year. Researchers found that between 1990 and 2023, the age-standardised incidence rate fell by 41.6 per cent, while the mortality rate declined by 61.2 per cent.