Whooping Cough & Pertussis: California?

California’s top health official warned the state is on pace to record the highest number of whooping cough cases in half a century.
When I first saw the commercials about this, they made me wonder. Wasn’t whooping cough a thing of the past? I thought Pertussis was eradicated from California already.
Whooping Cough can take months to recover from and most important it can be fatal for an infant.
Whooping cough is a bacterial disease that infects the respiratory system.

Is there going to be a vaccine for this soon? What are the symptoms of Whooping Cough?

Reported cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, have quadrupled since last year.
There have been 910 confirmed cases of the disease in California this year between Jan. 1 and June 15. That is four times as many cases as during the same period last year, when 219 cases were confirmed.
As of June 15, 2010 California recorded 910 cases of whooping cough. 600 more possible cases are being investigated.

Whooping cough is now at epidemic levels in California and the state could record the highest number of illnesses and death due to the disease in 50 years, the state's top health official said Wednesday.

Newborns are most likely to be infected by their siblings and parents. Fielding urged anyone who has a cough to stay away from infants.
Pertussis usually starts with flu-like symptoms, such as runny nose, sneezing, fever and a mild cough. The symptoms may be mild and brief, or last up to two weeks, but are often followed by severe coughing fits that may be associated with vomiting.

Infants are typically inoculated against pertussis at two months, but adequate protection does not occur until six months, leaving them susceptible. Boosters are recommended in middle school, adolescence and through adulthood as immunity — either from inoculation or having had the disease — diminishes over time.