Public health officials are on alert after five cases of whooping cough were reported at Estes Hills Elementary School.
Parents have received notification letters encouraging them to monitor their children for symptoms of whooping cough and to report illness to their medical providers. Individuals in close contact with the children with confirmed cases of whooping cough have been told to see their doctors for preventative antibiotics.
The school nurse is monitoring students and communicating findings with the Orange County Health Department. The staff at Estes Hills is working closely with the department to keep parents informed of all recommendations and investigation updates.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is an acute bacterial infection of the respiratory tract that is transmitted through close contact with an infected person’s respiratory droplets. Initial symptoms are cold-like but progress to a cough that lasts at least two weeks. The cough is often characterized as paroxysmal, with rapid multiple coughs, followed by a loud “whooping†sound at the end of the coughs and sometimes vomiting. Infants may have apneic episodes, in which they can’t breathe. Symptoms usually begin seven to 10 days after exposure but can take up to 21 days to appear.
Older children and adults tend to experience milder illness with whooping cough but it can result in hospitalization for infants and the elderly.
Most people have been immunized against whooping cough. A booster dose of the whooping-cough vaccine used for adolescents and adults is required for students when they enter sixth grade. But the vaccine is not 100 percent effective in preventing whooping cough, and immunity decreases over time.