LOS ANGELES - An analysis of all eight cases of California infants who died from whooping cough this year has found that doctors typically failed to make a swift, accurate diagnosis, despite patients' multiple visits to clinics and hospitals, it was reported.
"In several cases ... the infants were treated only for nasal congestion or mild upper respiratory infection,'' Dr. John Talarico, an immunization official with the California Department of Public Health, wrote in a recent letter to healthcare providers statewide, the Los Angeles Times reported.