One case of Whooping Cough at Parker
Janesville School District officials Thursday sent a letter home with students stating a Parker student is ill with pertussis, or Whooping Cough.
The Rock County Health Department on Wednesday notified the district of the illness.
Parents do not need to take immediate action at this time, the letter stated.
The student will be able to return to school after taking antibiotics for five days.
Whooping Cough is a bacterial infection that can be spread from person to person by breathing bacteria from a person who’s coughing. Usually, a person needs repeated face-to-face contact to get sick, the letter stated.
Parents are encouraged to monitor their children for symptoms for the next two weeks. Symptoms include a runny nose and an irritated cough that progressively gets worse for seven to 14 days.
The coughing spells can be “explosive” and usually interrupt sleep. The spells are followed by gagging or vomiting or a crowing “whoop” sound.
If your child has these symptoms, contact a health care professional.
Parents are encouraged to review immunization records to make sure children’s Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine is current.
For more information, call Mat Haeger, manager of health services, at (608) 743-5097.
May 8, 2009 at 8:29 p.m.
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anotherdoor, I'm not sure when your kid was vaccinated, but the DTP (whole-cell) vaccine has been replaced by the DTaP (acellular) vaccine precisely because of a significantly lower rate of complications. People should not fear the vaccine. In any case, infancy is the time of highest risk.
May 8, 2009 at 12:26 p.m.
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At the age of two months, my son had viral menengitis which was caused by the pertussis vaccine. He spent days in the hospital. He never received the vaccine again. Doctors said that the chances of him contracting whooping cough were too small, especially considering his reaction. This was at Walter Reed in D.C., btw.
May 8, 2009 at 11:25 a.m.
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Whooping cough is NOT caused by whooping cranes. {:>)
May 8, 2009 at 11:06 a.m.
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Pertussis is NOT a cold. It is a serious communicable respiratory disease that before widespread vaccination killed high numbers of kids. It remains especially dangerous to infants. It is generally not deadly to adults, but the risk of spread to infants means that it should still be taken quite seriously in comparison to a cold or seasonal flu.
May 8, 2009 at 10:22 a.m.
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Whooping cough or pertussis, is no picnic. I had this a few years ago while living in AZ. I literally coughed all day and night for 6 weeks until the symptoms subsided. Frankly, I think adults should be just as, if not more concerned about contracting pertussis than this so-called swine flu. There is a booster available for adults who have lost their immunity from childhood... wish it had been more widely available before I ended up sick with it.
May 8, 2009 at 10:22 a.m.
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Well my child as a baby was allergic to the perussis pat of the dtp vaccine, so they didn't get the shot. they would be at terrible risk if they came in contact with that person, it could kill them. but I agree that they make alot out of nothing. i would however keep my kid out if I heard of it in their school just to be safe.
May 8, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.
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Better close it down!!
May 8, 2009 at 6:50 a.m.
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I had Whooping Cough a few years ago, and it took the Dr's 4 months to diagnose me! I guess it was because I was older, and it mostly happens to the young'uns. Thank goodness no one caught it from me.
May 8, 2009 at 4 a.m.
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give it up people, whats next bird flu or something.
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