Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.wickedlocal.com/belmont/news/x401622875/Whooping-cough-hits-high-school
Whooping cough hits high school
Sun May 25, 2008, 06:04 AM EDT
Belmont, Mass. - Two cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, have been reported at Belmont High School in recent weeks.
BHS principal Mike Harvey sent an e-mail to parents on May 16 alerting them to the diagnoses.
?This notice is not designed to get anyone upset or worried,? he wrote. ?It is simply to let families know that pertussis has been diagnosed.?
The diagnosed students are no longer contagious, he said in an interview, but school year is rapidly coming to a close, and ?we thought it important to for families to know that pertussis is around.?
Pertussis is a bacterial infection that causes ?a really, really bad cough,? Health Department Director Donna Moultrup said.
?They have a feeling like they can?t catch their breath,? she said. ?The whooping sound happens when they gasp as they take air in.?
The infection is treated with a course of antibiotics, she said, and it can be more difficult to treat the longer a person waits. Recovery can take up to three months.
Moultrup said the recent diagnoses do not reach the level of an outbreak, but that people should be aware of them in case they develop a cough.
?At this time of year people think it?s just allergies,? she said, ?but if you develop a bad cough you should see your primary care physician and tell them you may have been exposed to whooping cough.?
A course of antibiotics is often recommended to those with prolonged exposure to a person with whooping cough, particularly because they are infectious for two weeks before symptoms develop.
?We aren?t pushing antibiotics as hard as we have in the past,? she said, ?because that?s how you develop a resistance. But we do recommend it for some people.?
Pertussis is particularly dangerous to the elderly and to infants, though most children are immunized by the time they are a year old.
?By age 11, the immunization has pretty much worn off,? Moultrup said. ?The real danger is for infants who have only received one or two shots in the immunization course.?
Pertussis immunizations were recently added to the diphtheria and tetanus vaccines available to adults, and Moultrup recommended adults, especially teachers and nursery school workers, request the DTaP vaccine, which includes a pertussis booster, at their next checkup.
?Every adult needs to update those vaccines every 10 years,? she said, ?though if you had yours five years ago and you have kids in the house, you might as well get one now.?
If anyone who came in contact with a high school student develops cold symptoms and then a bad cough, he or she should see their primary care physician right away, Moultrup said. The doctor should be told that they might have been exposed to pertussis.
If you have any questions, please call Patsy Lawnhurst, High School Nurse, at 617-993-5929, or Moultrup at the Health Dept. at 617-993-2720.
Whooping cough hits high school
Sun May 25, 2008, 06:04 AM EDT
Belmont, Mass. - Two cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, have been reported at Belmont High School in recent weeks.
BHS principal Mike Harvey sent an e-mail to parents on May 16 alerting them to the diagnoses.
?This notice is not designed to get anyone upset or worried,? he wrote. ?It is simply to let families know that pertussis has been diagnosed.?
The diagnosed students are no longer contagious, he said in an interview, but school year is rapidly coming to a close, and ?we thought it important to for families to know that pertussis is around.?
Pertussis is a bacterial infection that causes ?a really, really bad cough,? Health Department Director Donna Moultrup said.
?They have a feeling like they can?t catch their breath,? she said. ?The whooping sound happens when they gasp as they take air in.?
The infection is treated with a course of antibiotics, she said, and it can be more difficult to treat the longer a person waits. Recovery can take up to three months.
Moultrup said the recent diagnoses do not reach the level of an outbreak, but that people should be aware of them in case they develop a cough.
?At this time of year people think it?s just allergies,? she said, ?but if you develop a bad cough you should see your primary care physician and tell them you may have been exposed to whooping cough.?
A course of antibiotics is often recommended to those with prolonged exposure to a person with whooping cough, particularly because they are infectious for two weeks before symptoms develop.
?We aren?t pushing antibiotics as hard as we have in the past,? she said, ?because that?s how you develop a resistance. But we do recommend it for some people.?
Pertussis is particularly dangerous to the elderly and to infants, though most children are immunized by the time they are a year old.
?By age 11, the immunization has pretty much worn off,? Moultrup said. ?The real danger is for infants who have only received one or two shots in the immunization course.?
Pertussis immunizations were recently added to the diphtheria and tetanus vaccines available to adults, and Moultrup recommended adults, especially teachers and nursery school workers, request the DTaP vaccine, which includes a pertussis booster, at their next checkup.
?Every adult needs to update those vaccines every 10 years,? she said, ?though if you had yours five years ago and you have kids in the house, you might as well get one now.?
If anyone who came in contact with a high school student develops cold symptoms and then a bad cough, he or she should see their primary care physician right away, Moultrup said. The doctor should be told that they might have been exposed to pertussis.
If you have any questions, please call Patsy Lawnhurst, High School Nurse, at 617-993-5929, or Moultrup at the Health Dept. at 617-993-2720.