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Residents reminded about whooping cough precautions
Wed December 1, 2010
DUPAGE COUNTY- The DuPage County Health Department is informing residents that there has been an increase in the number of pertussis (whooping cough) cases in DuPage County in recent weeks, with the majority of cases in children and adolescents. Several states have reported increases of pertussis cases this year.
Pertussis is a highly infectious and usually mild illness that is easily transmitted through coughing and sneezing and may last for several months. Most people completely recover, but complications can be severe and possibly life-threatening in high risk groups, especially infants under one year and children who have not been fully immunized against the disease.
Symptoms of pertussis may appear in 5 to 10 days following exposure, but can take up to 21 days to appear. Early symptoms include a runny nose, low-grade fever and a mild occasional cough lasting for at least 2 weeks, which can become severe and spasmodic-with a distinctive "whooping" sound-and may trigger vomiting after a coughing episode. Even though the disease may be milder in older children, adolescents and adults, those who are infected may unknowingly transmit the disease to other vulnerable persons, including unimmunized or incompletely immunized infants. If you or anyone in your family exhibits any of the symptoms of pertussis, please contact your physician to arrange for appropriate testing and treatment with antibiotics.
Patients with pertussis must be isolated from day care, school, work and public gatherings until at least 5 days after the start of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Since infants, children and adults are best protected from pertussis by immunizations, please review the shot records of your family members. If your children and you have not received all recommended shots, contact your physician to arrange for the immunizations. Infants and young children should receive a series of DTaP vaccines in their first 5 years of life and adolescents and adults should receive a single Tdap vaccine at 11 years of age or older.
In addition, frequent hand washing and respiratory hygiene (e.g. covering your cough, coughing into tissues, disposing of tissues promptly) are important practices that help to limit the spread of this and other similar infections.
More information on pertussis disease and vaccination is available at: www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pertussis/