Wyoming whooping cough reports sharp increase

With a sharp rise in recent whopping cough cases reported to the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH), Wyoming’s state health officer is encouraging awareness and vaccination to help protect vulnerable residents from the disease.

A total of 63 cases of pertussis, also known as whopping cough, have been reported to WDH so far this year. This is compared to a total of 58 in 2012, but only 13 in 2011 and 14 in 2010.

“Wyoming’s level of pertussis activity right now is certainly a cause for concern,” said Dr. Wendy Braund, State Health Office and Public Health Division senior administrator with WDH. “In recent years, other states have seen significant outbreaks of this disease with sometimes deadly consequences. A high percentage of this year’s cases have been reported over the last two months.”

Actual cases numbers are likely higher than those reported to WDH, because many cases are not identified as pertussis and others may not be reported to the department. Pertussis typically begins with cold-like symptoms and perhaps a mild cough. Pertussis is often not suspected or diagnosed until a persistent cough with spasms sets in after one to two weeks. Infants and children can cough violently and rapidly with a loud “whooping” sound.

Dr. Dean Bartholomew with the Platte Valley Medical Clinic said he has not noticed a major increase here in the Platte Valley. He said the smaller medical clinics, such as the PVMC, don’t normally test for it because it takes a long time for results to come back.

“It can take five to seven days, or three to five days at the quickest, to get results showing if a person has whopping cough,” Bartholomew said.

Bartholomew said the larger hospitals primarily do testing for it because of more time and money to do more thorough work. However, he said any individual who may have whopping cough would be treated appropriately by the PVMC.

“If we have a suspicion that it looks like whopping cough, we’ll treat them with a specific antibiotic used for most respiratory infections,” Bartholomew said. “I think we’ve seen a handful of patients with it per year, including adults and kids. Generally vaccination rates around here are good too. I think we’re protected from having big outbreak because of our good immunization rates, and a lot of that depends on the attitudes of the parents.”

According to the WDH, the most severe danger with whopping cough is related to babies. More than half of infants less than 1 year of age who become ill with pertussis must be hospitalized, and in some cases it can be deadly.

“Babies can catch the illness from a family member or other caregiver who may not realize they have the disease, and infants should be kept away from individuals who have an illness characterized by coughing,” Braund said. “We want healthcare providers and families to be aware of Wyoming’s current situation with pertussis. Because it has not been especially common over the last several decades, it’s not always recognized.”

Pertussis is considered a vaccine-preventable disease; about half of Wyoming’s cases this year involved children who had not been vaccinated.

“We recommend residents stay up to date with their pertussis vaccines,” Braund said. “They are not perfect, but effective. If you’ve been vaccinated and still become ill with pertussis, you are less likely to have a severe infection.”

Braund said the Tdap adolescent/adult pertussis booster vaccine is important for those who spend time with new infants.

“If you are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, you should talk to your doctor about a Tdap vaccine,” she said. “It’s also good to make sure all people around your baby are vaccinated, included siblings, grandparents or other family members and childcare staff.”

 

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