Whooping Cough Outbreak Causes Concern

The New Mexico Department of Health has a serious warning for Bernalillo County residents after it said it has seen a significant increase in whooping cough cases recently, especially in schools.
Health officials said it's not just parents who need to keep a close eye out, because anyone could potentially catch the disease that's spreading rapidly.

"(It's) really bad news because my son has asthma, and that's going on in his school and that means he's going to be affected right away," said parent Milady Ontiveros.

Ontiveros said her son is in seventh grade at Harrison Middle School, one of the schools the Health Department is investigating.

Health officials said whooping cough has also been linked to Barcelona Elementary School, A Children's Garden, Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, Eastern Hills Christian Academy and Rio Grande Christian Academy.

The health department said whooping cough starts with typical cold symptoms, but progresses into uncontrollable coughing, and it's highly contagious, making schools especially vulnerable.

"It's certainly not only the environment where it's spread. It's spreading in families that have a lot of close contact with one another and extended family members," said medical epidemiologist Dr. Joan Baumbach.

During an average year, the Health Department said it sees about 35 cases of whooping cough in Bernalillio County, but this year, the number has already spiked to 87, with many of the cases reported in the past two months.

The Health Department said at least 144 cases have been reported statewide.

Whooping Cough

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Whooping cough

Introduction

Whooping cough, sometimes referred to as pertussis, is an infection of the lining of the airways. It mainly affects the windpipe (trachea) and the two airways that branch off from it to the lungs (the bronchi).

Whooping cough is highly infectious. The condition is caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis, which can be passed from person to person through droplets in the air from coughing and sneezing.

The condition is known as whooping cough because the main symptom is a hacking cough, which is often followed by a sharp intake of breath that sounds like a 'whoop'.
Who is at risk?

Whooping cough usually affects infants and young children, although adults can sometimes develop the condition. Whooping cough tends to be most severe in young infants. In rare cases, it can be fatal.

How common is it?

The introduction of a vaccination programme during the 1950s and the introduction of a pre-school booster jab in 2001 means the annual number of cases of whooping cough in the UK is now very low.

Just under 600 cases of whooping cough were recorded in England and Wales in 2005. Before the introduction of the whooping cough vaccine, the average annual number of cases exceeded 120,000.

Despite the number of cases falling, it is still important that all children have the whooping cough vaccine to prevent future outbreaks of the infection.

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