The wealthiest schools in Los Angeles are seeing one of the lowest rates of vaccination, equaling that of one of the weakest countries -- economically -- in the world, paired with a higher rate of diseases in students, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

This is the latest effect seen in a dangerous trend growing in the country, where vaccines are being seen as unnecessary or harmful, and parents are opting not to vaccinate their children.

Elementary schools in wealthy neighborhoods across Los Angeles County's Westside, including Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, are seeing vaccination rates that match South Sudan, and as a result, whooping cough cases have spiked.

About 8,000 pertussis cases have been reported in 2014 to California's Department of Public Health as of Sept. 2, and many of them have been hospitalized, the Hollywood Reporter reported. About 94 percent of all cases statewide were children.

"A number of them have been in the ICU and very, very sick," infectious disease specialist Dr. Jeffrey Bender, at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, told Hollywood Reporter. "They cough so hard it turns into vomiting and broken ribs; they end up intubated, to ventilate their lungs."

The resurgence of the disease is the first in more than 60 years since the last time it turned into an epidemic and killed more than 1,100 people was in 1950.

One of the vaccines that has helped keep the numbers down over the years is the DTap (diptheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine, which almost eliminated the disease.

Curently, more than 1,300 cases alone are in Los Angeles, which is the highest reported rate so far.

"It's a smoldering fire that has started, and it could be a complete wildfire if vaccination rates continue to fall," said Dr. Deborah Lehman, associate director of pediatric infectious diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.