ME: 2018 Whooping cough

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20180622/whooping-cough-reported-at-york-schools


Whooping cough reported at York schools
By Deborah McDermott
Posted at 2:55 PM Updated at 2:55 PM

YORK, Maine -- Six cases of whooping cough have been reported in the York schools since the beginning of June, but school officials said they have been proactive in notifying parents and staff and providing information about actions to be taken.

The cases in York are among three ?outbreaks? in York County since the beginning of the year, said Emily Spencer of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. An outbreak is defined as three cases or more in a facility within 21 days of each case.

There was an outbreak in the Sanford School Department in April. Just recently, more than 30 cases of whooping cough have been reported at Exeter High School in New Hampshire.

Assistant Superintendent Anita Bernhardt said York has had six laboratory-confirmed cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, between Coastal Ridge Elementary School, York Middle School and York High School during June. The final day of school in York is Tuesday, June 26...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.journaltribune.com/arti...-as-whooping-cough-cases-soar-in-york-county/


State on high alert as whooping cough cases soar in York County
| October 20, 2018
By JOE LAWLOR
Portland Press Herald

Pertussis is circulating at sky-high rates in York County, with 97 cases so far this year, including 25 cases of the highly infectious disease in September. Kennebunk Elementary School and The Middle School of the Kennebunks reported pertussis outbreaks shortly after school started in September.

Maine in recent years has consistently recorded one of the worst rates of pertussis ? also known as whooping cough ? in the country. In 2017, the latest year for which state-by-state comparisons are available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine?s pertussis rate of 27.7 per 100,000 population was the worst in the nation, and more than five times the national average of 4.9 cases per 100,000. Maine had the third-highest rate in 2016...