N.C.: Whooping Cough Outbreak in Duplin County

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Source: http://www.wnct.com/midatlantic/nct/features.apx.-content-articles-NCT-2008-06-02-0027.html

Whooping Cough Outbreak in Duplin County
Monday, Jun 02, 2008 - 06:42 PM Updated: 09:51 PM
By Marisela Burgos
Eyewitness News 9

Officials in Duplin County say they've seen a spike in whooping cough cases, since the end of April.

For the past several weeks the Health Department has seen an increase in people who have come in contact with people with whopping cough, or Bordetella Pertussis. While there are only nine confirmed cases, the bacterium is highly contagious. Officials are writing up prescriptions and giving people the appropriate vaccinations.

Health Director Ila Davis says this is a bacterial disease spread through droplets in the air. That?s why people will need to do their part and make sure they're washing their hands.

?This isn't the avian flu. We?re not dealing with a devastating disease. We?re dealing with an annoying disease,? Dr. Hervy Kornegay says. He?s the Medical Director for the Duplin County Health Department.

?The cases we've seen range from 2 to 18 years old,? Ila Davis says. She?s the Duplin County Health Director.

While the health department has only nine cases, they're waiting for lab results to determine whether that number's going to jump even higher.

Nine on your Side did try to contact the school system, but did not get any response on Monday. Starting next year, kids going into the sixth grade will be required to get Dtap and Tdap immunizations against the disease. The CDC says generally there is no treatment that lessens or stops whooping cough, but it is rarely fatal.

 

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Re: N.C.: Whooping Cough Outbreak in Duplin County

Source: http://www.newsargus.com/news/archi...gh_outbreak_concerns_county_health_officials/

Whooping cough outbreak concerns county health officials

By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 19, 2008 1:39 PM

A recent outbreak of pertussis, or whooping cough, in Duplin County, has prompted Health Director James Roosen to issue an advisory to the public.

According to reports, more than 30 people have become ill, with some of the Duplin cases originating in children who had earlier been immunized.

Pertussis is considered a vaccine-preventable disease but over time a vaccinated person can lose immunity. Protection from this vaccine can reportedly diminish over time and has resulted in several outbreaks nationally.

"I knew that we were having a problem with pertussis but our neighbor just south of us has really had a problem," Roosen said Monday afternoon. "They have to treat the contacts of each of the people that have pertussis, which may be 10 or 20 people, so they have to go and investigate that.

"It's really kept them hopping. I'm trying to keep that from happening in Wayne County."

Roosen said he had received a call from a work site about two possible cases of pertussis, both people who had contact with Duplin residents who had it.

At this point, efforts are being geared toward prevention or certainly early detection. It will also be important for parents to consider a booster of the pertussis vaccine to strengthen children's immunity, he added.

"We want to start the educational process so parents, teachers, child care operators will know the symptoms and help us with surveillance," he said.

Earlier in the year, the state announced it is mandatory for rising sixth-graders to get a T-Dap booster, which is for tetanus, diptheria and pertussis.

Pertussis usually begins with symptoms similar to that of a common cold. It is spread through direct contact with respiratory droplets from the nose of infected individuals and is highly contagious.

Symptoms can last for many weeks and is typically manifested in children with repeated violent coughing spasms often followed by vomiting. Major complications include pneumonia, seizures, and malnutrition. Pneumonia is often the most common cause of death. Severe complications are most common among infants and young children, particularly those that have not been vaccinated. Adolescents and adults can become sick from the bacteria that cause pertussis when their immunity has declined.

Since it is a vaccine-preventable disease, children as well as adults need to be properly immunized, Roosen said.

Vaccination against pertussis is available through the Wayne County Health Department, Monday through Thursday, from 7-11:30 a.m. and 1-5 p.m. Individuals may also contact their private physician to receive the vaccine.

At the Health Department, a booster dose of T-Dap is available at no charge to clients 10 to 64 years of age.

But the simplest piece of advice, Roosen noted, is to frequently wash hands with soap and water and to cover the nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing.