Health district downgrades whooping cough

MOSES LAKE - Grant County Health Officer Alexander Brzezny is downgrading the county's 2010-2011 outbreak of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough.

The downgrade means the district is no longer classifying the whooping cough cases as an outbreak, but are still concerned by the spread of the disease, said Grant County Health District Administrator Jeff Ketchel.

The number of whooping cough cases reported to the health district has declined since October, but whooping cough is still more prevalent here than in neighboring counties and occasional cases are still occurring, according to a press release from the health district.

Twenty-nine whooping cough cases were reported in 2011. During the 16 months of the outbreak, there were 57 cases, including an infant death investigated by the health district. In the five years prior to 2010, only one to four cases per year were reported in Grant County. Neighboring counties are reporting two to five cases of whooping cough, according to the health district.

The number of whooping cough cases throughout the state has increased by more than 40 percent between 2010 and 2011. Two infants died of whooping cough in Yakima and Snohomish counties in 2011.

The health district has a five-year plan to reduce the number of cases or keep them from increasing. To that end, the health district recommends the following steps to prevent the disease:

• Grant County residents should check with their health care provider or the health district to ensure their pertussis vaccination is up to date, as the vaccination's effectiveness wears off over time.
• School-age children, pregnant women and adults who care for babies and children should update their pertussis vaccination. Most infants get whooping cough from family members, and young babies can't get their first vaccine until they are two months old. They are not considered reasonably protected until they have received four shots by the age of 15 to 18 months old.
• The Tdap whooping cough vaccine booster is recommended for people 11 years old and older, but should be given to children as young as 7 who have not been vaccinated in the past. The Tdap booster is required to enter sixth grade.
• Health care providers should test for pertussis when a patient is seen for an unexplained cough, especially if it has been present for at least 14 days.

As cases are reported to the health district, their public health nurses will work with health care providers and families to identify people who may have been exposed to the disease. The health district identified more than 580 people exposed to pertussis during the 2010-2011 outbreak and made referrals for testing and medications when appropriate.

"It takes every person to care about preventing Pertussis, meaning that each capable individual to purposely get vaccinated, cover their mouths when they cough, seek medical care when they have persistent cough, and to do the same for the children they care for," said Shawta Sacket, the health district's community public health manager and epidemiologist.

For more information, visit www.granthealth.org/pertussis.html.