Whooping cough confirmed in North Idaho
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November 2, 2011 |
Whooping cough, also called pertussis, has been
confirmed in nine children who live in Kootenai
County and who range in age from 3 months to 15
years.
None of the children has been hospitalized. The
cases of the highly contagious illness are so
far confined to people within one social
network. No cases outside this network have been
reported.
“Most of the sick children have not been
immunized,” said Dave Hylsky, epidemiologist
with the Panhandle Health District. “Pertussis
is highly contagious in group settings—within
families, in classrooms.”
The pertussis vaccine protects people from
getting the disease, but it doesn’t work
completely for all people. Still, it has been
shown to prevent serious symptoms in people who
have been vaccinated.
Since January, a total of 39 cases of pertussis
have been reported in the five northern
counties—19 in Kootenai County, 19 in Benewah
County and one in Bonner County. Last year,
northern Idaho had 74 cases of pertussis with no
deaths. The five northern counties typically
report a total of six or seven cases of whooping
cough per year.
Pertussis is among the diseases childhood
vaccinations help prevent. It’s a highly
contagious illness characterized by severe
coughing spells that can cause vomiting and lack
of breath. Untreated, pertussis can develop into
pneumonia, seizures and encephalitis.
It’s particularly dangerous for children younger
than one year of age. Most pertussis deaths
occur in unvaccinated children or in children
too young to be vaccinated.
Pertussis typically starts with a runny nose and
watery eyes, but a cough takes over in a week or
two. Anyone with symptoms should contact a
doctor. People spread pertussis by coughing or
sneezing while they’re in close contact with
others, who then breathe in the pertussis
bacteria.
People with pertussis are contagious early in
the infection, sometimes before the coughing
starts, and stay contagious for up to three
weeks after the cough starts. Doctor-prescribed
antibiotics can kill the infection and prevent
it from spreading. Patients need to complete
five days of antibiotics before they’re
considered no longer contagious.
Children diagnosed with pertussis need to stay
home from school or child care until they have
completed five days of antibiotic treatment. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recommends that entire families take the
antibiotics if any one member of the family is
diagnosed with pertussis.
The DTaP immunization, which contains pertussis
vaccine, is available at PHD for children
younger than 6. A pertussis booster vaccination,
Tdap, is available at PHD for anyone age 11 or
older.
Because pertussis is highly contagious and
dangerous for babies, adults around infants are
advised to get a Tdap. Immunizations are
available from most doctors and from PHD. For an
immunization appointment at PHD, call:
Benewah County – 245-4556
Bonner County – 263-5159
Boundary County – 267-5558
Kootenai County – 415-5270
Shoshone County – 786-7474
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