Watch out for whooping cough in Lake County
The number of pertussis cases in Lake County this year already has surpassed the total for all of 2011, Lake County Health Department officials announced.
As of Sept. 28, 178 cases of pertussis, also called whooping cough, were reported. Last year, 175 cases were reported.
This year’s total is the highest since 1959.
The health department is encouraging adolescents and adults to receive booster shots for additional protection against this illness.
“To address this outbreak, everyone 11 years of age and older should receive the Tdap booster,” said Irene Pierce, the department’s executive director. “While this illness was on the decline just a few years ago, it is now a major reportable disease in Lake County. And not only Lake County is affected. Illinois currently has the fifth highest number of pertussis cases nationwide.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States is currently experiencing what may turn out to be the largest outbreak of reported pertussis. This outbreak is accompanied by complications and death in unimmunized young infants.
Although most children are vaccinated against pertussis before entering kindergarten, a booster dose is recommended because protection from the preschool vaccine decreases over time.
The vaccine was modified in the 1990s to reduce side effects, and the new version is possibly wearing off faster than expected.
According to the latest studies, protection against pertussis waned during the five years after the fifth dose of DTaP.
Pertussis is easily transmitted through coughing and sneezing. It does not typically cause severe illness in healthy immunized students.
Pertussis can be transmitted from healthy students to infants and individuals with chronic illnesses, for whom pertussis can be life threatening.
Health officials urge people who have had a long-lasting, severe cough that tends to be worse at night to consult their physicians. Over-the-counter medicines are ineffective in treating pertussis.
Symptoms usually appear five to 10 days after exposure, but they can take as long as 21 days to surface.
For additional information, call the health department’s communicable disease program at (847) 377-8130, or visit lakecountyil.gov/Health/want/Pages/CD.aspx.