The cough that is so strong it can break bones is making a comeback and this time it's hitting more young adults. So, will the vaccine designed for mostly babies and toddlers wear off?

The whooping cough, or pertussis vaccine is part of a whole series of childhood immunizations.

Pertussis is a bacterial infection that first comes up as a cold and soon turns into severe coughing.
Infants are among the most at-risk. Now, there are concerns that with the increase of whooping cough, the vaccine to help remedy it may wear off.

Health officials caution parents to play it safe when it comes to getting sick. They say while most older people can usually recover, they can just as well spread their sickness to infants that are too young for vaccinations.

Now, doctors want to develop boosters for older kids and adults as a precautionary measure for babies and infants. Canada and other countries already give whooping cough boosters.

Since the 1980s, there's been a 51 percent increase of whooping cough cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC now fears the numbers may be ten times as bad because many of the whooping cough cases go undiagnosed.