County Health Department: Whooping cough cases increasing

By Sarah Leavenworth / Leader staff

Lake County continues to lead all counties in Montana in confirmed pertussis, or whooping cough, cases, according to the Lake County Health Department.

The number of confirmed whooping cough cases in Lake County climbed to 24 last Friday, according to Brigid O'Connor, R.N., the LCHD Infectious Disease Nurse. The Montana Department of Public Health reported March 24 that cases statewide numbered 41, with the highest number of cases confirmed in Lake County.

According to O'Connor, symptoms of whooping cough include a lingering cough, specifically lasting for more than two weeks. The cough can be characterized by post-cough vomiting and a "whoop" sound. Most adults, she said, will simply experience coughing fits or a cough that lingers.

Whooping cough can particularly affect infants up to the age of one, O'Connor said, noting that, though there is a vaccine for whooping cough, children typically do not complete the immunization series until they reach the age of one.

"It does seem to hit the elderly and the very young hardest," O'Connor said.

O'Connor said the whooping cough "cluster" originated in February with cases in Ronan and Charlo schools. O'Connor said she and Tribal Health nurses worked closely with school nurses and teachers to identify which students had been in close contact with classmates diagnosed with whooping cough.

Letters were sent home with students advising that students who had been idenfified as being in close contact with whooping cough and who were exhibiting whooping cough symptoms should be tested and treated. Other "close contacts," O'Connor said, were told to consider preventative antibiotics. O'Connor said that letters containing general information about whooping cough were also distributed. The last case of whooping cough in the schools was reported March 7, she said.

The bacteria that causes whooping cough excretes a toxin that irritates the airways, O'Connor said. Even after antibiotics have eliminated the bacteria, the tissue in the airways can remain irritated. The irritation, she said, can last for months. The cough, she added, tends to have more impact on young children, who have smaller airways.

"Because we know pertussis is around, if people have had a cough, they should be suspicious even before they've had [a cough] for two weeks," O'Connor said.

O'Connor advises parents to make sure their children are up to date on immunizations. She also said sick children should be kept at home. Simple measures like hand washing and covering mouths while coughing can also be helpful, O'Connor said.

As of Friday, of the 24 Lake County whooping cough cases, seven were reported at grade schools and two at high schools. Six cases were confirmed for adults over the ages of 40, in addition to three cases among young adults. Six infants or toddlers were diagnosed with whooping cough.

People who have been identified by a health department nurse as a "close contact" to a person diagnosed with with anyone who has whooping cough can discuss taking preventative antibiotics with their health care provider.

"It seems that every few years there are outbreaks in the state," said O'Connor, noting that 586 whooping cough cases were reported in Montana in 2005 — just four of which were diagnosed in Lake County.