Two local schools report pertussis cases
to lower that chance. If your child is already sick, giving antibiotics early can help your child get well faster and lower the chances of spreading the disease to others.”
Amy Buckman, a spokeswoman for the Lower Merion School District, said there was a confirmed pertussis case in late January at “the Bala Cynwyd Middle School and parents or guardians of pupils at that school were notified.
“Our supervisor of student health reports that this is a low number compared to years past and that other cases are likely out there, but the patients haven’t been cultured and results reported,” said Buckman.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, there were 3,464 cases of pertussis, which is caused by bacteria, reported in the state from 2015 through 2017.
Dr. Joannie T. Yeh, a pediatrician practicing with Nemours Pediatrics at Riddle Hospital, said doctors do not always send a culture out to be tested so there are “definitely cases that go undiagnosed.” Yeh usually sees a pertussis case about every other year.
If a classmate is diagnosed parents should be “on the lookout for symptoms,” Yeh said. However, unless their child was a close friend or sat next to the ill student, it is unlikely that they will contract pertussis from being on the same bus or in the same classroom, she said.
Yeh advocates for her patients to receive their necessary vaccinations.
“In pediatrics we’re very much about prevention,” she said. “We don’t want kids to get sick. Outbreaks happen every year. We want to do as much as we can to prevent kids from getting sick. That is our job to prevent kids from getting sick and help them if they are.” Coughing from pertussis, which can last up to 10 weeks, can be so strong that it breaks ribs.
Yeh is particularly concerned about infants who are too young to have received their pertussis immunizations since the disease can be deadly for babies, who can stop breathing. Doctors now recommend that pregnant mothers receive a Tdap vaccination with each pregnancy to provide some immunity for their babies, said Yeh. That shot is proven 85 percent effective in preventing pertussis in babies under two months old, she said.
Since 2010 up to 20 babies die each year from Pertussis in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. When she was a resident at the Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Yeh recalled a baby who was very sick with pertussis.
“It was touch and go for some time,” she said. “They can be at risk for lung infections, pneumonia or even death. The consequences are not light.”
One of the reasons to get vaccinated against pertussis is to protect young babies. The more people who are vaccinated, the less likely infants are to encounter a person with the disease.
While some parents are reluctant to allow their children to receive the recommended
vaccinations, Yeh said she always listens to their concerns and talks with them.
“They want to do the best for their child but there are a lot of mixed messages out there on the internet,” she said. Often parents’ concerns are vague but if they
bring in an article she will read it and discuss the issues with them, she said.
“The benefits (of vaccination) outweigh the risks, according to the data,” Yeh said.
In 2012 the CDC reported 48,277 cases of pertussis in the United States.
Reported cases tend to run from CDC sees between 10,000 and 50,000 cases of whooping cough annually in the United States. However, in the 1940s, before vaccinations against pertussis were available, the U.S. saw some 200,000 cases each year.