January 4, 2005

Whooping cough hits Ashland schoolchildren

By Jennifer Squires
Ashland Daily Tidings

Almost 40 cases of whooping cough have been reported in Ashland since Dec. 22 and one patient had to be hospitalized, according to the Jackson County Health Department.

"We're having a significant outbreak of whooping cough in Ashland," said Viki Barbour, a division manager with JCHD. "At this point it's primarily the school-age population."

Most of the cases are middle school or high school students in Ashland, although one infant contracted the illness and had to be hospitalized. Whooping cough, or pertussis, can be fatal, especially for young children and the elderly.

"There are fairly widespread reports of cough illnesses in the community," Barbour said. "It can develop complications such as pneumonia and turn into a very serious or fatal illness."

As of Monday morning, one case had been confirmed, another was classified as presumptive because the person had contact with an infected person and 35 other cases are suspected to be whooping cough. The only other confirmed case in Jackson County happened in Jacksonville on Dec. 17. Last winter, approximately 130 cases of whooping cough were confirmed in Jackson County.

"The whole thing came up right as school was ending," said Judy Blickenstaff, a family nurse practitioner at the Ashland High health clinic, where they have been doing individual case management. Confidentially regulations prevented the Blickenstaff from disclosing how many cases had been seen there.

Ashland schools reopen today. School newsletters sent home this week will include a whooping cough warning.

Although whooping cough vaccinations are given to young children, the effectiveness of the inoculation diminishes with time and, by middle school, children generally are susceptible to the disease again. A second vaccination for older children has been researched, but currently there is no vaccination available for anyone over the age of 7 in the U.S. The infant who contracted whooping cough last month was too young to receive the inoculation.

Whooping cough is a bacterial disease that passes from person to person much like a cold of the flu. Barbour recommends people wash their hands regularly, avoid confined spaces and not share food or drink with others.

"The precautions against this are not any different than the precautions for any other respiratory illness, and I would say we've been talking about the precautions a lot more since the lack of flu vaccinations came out," Blickenstaff said. "Before we put our hands in our mouth, nose or eyes we need to clean them."

Symptoms may begin as cold-like seven to 21 days after exposure to someone with the disease. The cough usually gets worse after one to two weeks and can persist for up to three months. Other symptoms may include a difficulty catching one's breath, vomiting and a "whooping" sound. Whooping cough is treated with antibiotics.

"It's a real sudden onset," Barbour said. "It's just a real miserable illness with the coughing and coughing, which will often turn into gasping and vomiting. If a case is identified, you can treat people who've been in contact and often prevent those other people from getting sick."