Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://fallschurchtimes.com/21956/cases-of-pertussis-at-mary-ellen-henderson-middle-school/
Whooping Cough at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
By CHRISTINE KILGORE
Falls Church Times Staff
May 25, 2010
Fairfax County Health Department officials have been working over the past several weeks to prevent the spread of pertussis in Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, urging parents to keep children with symptoms at home until seen by a doctor and encouraging preventive medication in some children deemed to have had close contact with an infected student.
Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a bacterial, communicable illness that can be especially serious for infants and young children who have not yet completed the primary series of DTaP vaccine that protects against infection.
It is a reportable illness (physician and hospitals are required to report diagnosed cases) that, at least in Fairfax County, uniformly generates a public health response. And paradoxically, it?s a vaccine-preventable illness whose rates have been rising since the 1980s rather than falling.
And then there?s the fact that pinpointing suspect cases among children who are coughing from allergies, asthma, colds, and other infections is no easy feat.
As my 11-year-old daughter said recently, ?everyone is coughing!?...
Whooping Cough at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
By CHRISTINE KILGORE
Falls Church Times Staff
May 25, 2010
Fairfax County Health Department officials have been working over the past several weeks to prevent the spread of pertussis in Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, urging parents to keep children with symptoms at home until seen by a doctor and encouraging preventive medication in some children deemed to have had close contact with an infected student.
Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a bacterial, communicable illness that can be especially serious for infants and young children who have not yet completed the primary series of DTaP vaccine that protects against infection.
It is a reportable illness (physician and hospitals are required to report diagnosed cases) that, at least in Fairfax County, uniformly generates a public health response. And paradoxically, it?s a vaccine-preventable illness whose rates have been rising since the 1980s rather than falling.
And then there?s the fact that pinpointing suspect cases among children who are coughing from allergies, asthma, colds, and other infections is no easy feat.
As my 11-year-old daughter said recently, ?everyone is coughing!?...