Schools battle whooping cough

Royal Oak, Prospect Lake the latest to report cases

Royal Oak Middle School and Prospect Lake Elementary are the latest schools to have a confirmed case of whooping cough.

It brings the total number of cases on south Vancouver Island to 107. That’s a spike from 79 cases for all of 2016. There were 213 cases in 2015 and 47 in 2014.

“We’re doing extra cleaning and taking all precautions,” said Royal Oak Middle School principal Carly Hunter.

Saanich school district superintendent Dave Eberwein said the district is taking direction from Island Health.

“They are saying they are isolated cases and they don’t anticipate anything further.

“We are doing extra cleaning, did a big scrub of both schools last night and extra hand sanitizer has been put out,” Eberwein said Thursday.

“We are also emphasizing proper hygiene at school and at home.”

In September, five schools — Lansdowne, Central and Shoreline middle schools, as well as Craigflower and Cloverdale elementary schools — had confirmed or suspected cases of whooping cough. An independent school also had a case.

Pertussis, or whooping cough as it’s more commonly called, is a respiratory infection caused by bacteria in the throat.

The disease begins like a common cold, but over a week or two, the cough gets worse, often with a whoop-like sound sometimes followed by vomiting.

For children and adults, it’s usually an uncomfortable and prolonged illness, but for babies, it can result in pneumonia, convulsions, brain damage and, in rare cases, death.

About one infant out of every 170 who get pertussis will die from it, according to the provincial government site ImmunizeBC.ca.

Most deaths — four out of five — involve babies under a year old.

“If someone in the household has exposure to it and they are not vaccinated, they are going to get whooping cough,” said Victoria pediatrician Dr. Jeff Bishop.

When a case is confirmed in a school, Island Health sends letters advising parents to watch for possible signs of the disease and to go to a medical clinic or family doctor for a throat swab in suspected cases.

The health authority recommends handwashing and covering one’s mouth with an arm or sleeve when coughing to limit the spread.

Pertussis vaccinations are recommended for children at two months, four months, six months and 18 months, in kindergarten and then in Grade 9.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported that last year that 76 per cent of two-year-olds had up-to-date immunizations in Island Health’s south Island area.

Adults are advised to get a booster shot.