Last week, Suffolk County officials announced a Public Alert of a rise in Pertussis cases in school-aged children. Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a respiratory tract infection caused by bacteria. The highly contagious infection is currently circulating around schools of Suffolk County, infecting school children and their parents and teachers. Currently, there are 108 confirmed cases of whooping cough in our region, the majority of patients being students at various schools throughout Suffolk. According to the alert, the county is “not aware of any hospitalizations due to this pertussis outbreak.”
Whooping cough is highly contagious and airborne, commonly spread through uncovered coughing and sneezing. Symptoms of this illness can be brutal for young children, particularly infants who are infected. Coughing, nasal congestion, and fever can occur, and infants can experience more severe symptoms including a lapse in breathing, pneumonia, and convulsions. Most patients receive antibiotics when diagnosed, slowly easing the infection, however early diagnosis and treatment is critical to ensure symptoms do not become severe.
If these symptoms occur in children, it is important to keep them home from school and other activities. It is also crucial to teach children to cover their mouth and nose with their elbow or a tissue when sneezing or coughing, even in the home. Many confirmed cases of this current outbreak are parents of school children who also have the infection, making it difficult to care for their children. The current treatment recommended for pertussis is five days of antibiotic treatment and rest, although the bacteria can spread for at least two weeks after noticing symptoms or coughing.
For those who are pregnant, at risk of severe illness, or have weakened immune systems, Suffolk County advises that such persons should receive preventative antibiotics if they have been in contact with someone who is ill with pertussis, to help prevent them from getting sick.
“The best method to prevent or lessen the severity of disease is through vaccination. Routine vaccination against pertussis is recommended for all children and adults,” says Suffolk County in their alert to the public. “The DTaP vaccine for children and TDaP vaccine for adults protect against pertussis as well as two other serious infections, tetanus and diphtheria. TDaP vaccination is also recommended for pregnant women during every pregnancy to protect their babies from whooping cough in the first few months of life.”
“Like most respiratory illnesses, pertussis is spread more easily during the winter when we are inside without much exposure to fresh air,” says Suffolk County High School nurse, Susannah Gulino. “Children, in particular younger children, tend not to have the best hand hygiene, and often invade each other’s space while playing. While we love kids sharing, more often than not when they share, they share germs!”
If unvaccinated, there are other preventative methods that parents can take to protect their families against whooping cough. Teaching children to wash their hands often and properly is the best form of prevention. Using soap and water, have children rub their hands together for twenty seconds. Counting can work for older kids, however singing the ABC’s or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as they wash will be the appropriate amount of time for younger kids. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer can also be an effective form of killing bacteria if washing is not possible.
The best way to prevent the spread is hand hygiene, being up to date with vaccination, covering your mouth and nose when you sneeze (if possible, sneeze/cough into a tissue) and please throw any tissue in the garbage,” suggests Nurse Gulino. “Parents should be alert to the signs and symptoms of pertussis. If their child has a known exposure, they should contact their pediatrician and ask about prophylactic antibiotics.”
Wiping children’s book bags, lunch boxes, and shoes after school with anti-bacterial wipes or spray, can also be an effective way of preventing pertussis from entering the home from school hallways, floors, and the school bus.
“I want to implore people who will be interacting with a newborn to get vaccinated against pertussis,” adds Nurse Gulino. “Before my grandson was born my family all got vaccinated (Tdap). While most older children and adults do relatively fine with pertussis, it can be quite serious for infants and toddlers who have not completed the DTaP series.”
Both Tdap and DTaP are recommended vaccines that help protect against whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus. However, they are used for different age groups. Tdap is recommended for adults and older children while DTaP is recommended for young children and infants.
“Babies need three shots of DTaP to build up high levels of protection against diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough. Then, young children need two booster shots to maintain that protection through early childhood,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “CDC recommends shots at the following ages: 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 through 18 months, 4 through 6 years.” Children between the ages of 11 and 12 should get one shot of Tdap to boost their immunity, however if teenagers did not receive the vaccine in their preteen years, they should do so at their next doctor’s appointment, the CDC suggests.
Oftentimes, whooping cough begins by appearing like a common cold. A dry cough and runny nose can be common initial symptoms for many infections and viruses. However, after a few days, the cough can develop into a more defined and intense cough. It can come in waves of long coughing spells and sounds like a high-pitched “whoop” sound when breathing in, giving the infection its common name.
The New York Department of Health says that symptoms typically appear in three stages. “Stage one lasts 1-2 weeks: runny nose, sneezing, low-grade fever, mild occasional cough. It may look like the common cold, but the cough begins to get worse. Stage two can last 1-2 months: Cough becomes more severe. There are coughing fits that can be followed by a high- pitched whoop. The whoop means the person is trying to catch their breath. Sometimes a person will turn blue and vomit mucus or food. They also may have brief periods when they stop breathing.”
Though this can be scary, the fits often get better with antibiotics and treatment from doctors.
“Stage three may last weeks to months: Recovery phase is when a person slowly gets better. Coughing fits can come back if the person gets another respiratory illness.” While recovering, even after coughing has stopped, it is important to keep up good hygiene and take good care of yourself to limit exposure to additional illnesses that can be worsened by a weakened and recovering immune system.
The Messenger asks all parents and teachers to be diligent when teaching their children and students to properly wash their hands on a consistent basis, particularly after playing with other children, keep hands out of eyes, mouth, and nose, and cough into a tissue or their sleeve.
