New cases of whooping cough confirmed

By ERIC LINDBERG — July 2, 2009

With the number of confirmed whooping cough cases in Santa Barbara County jumping to 14 this year — including 11 in the month of June — health officials reiterated their call for local residents to be vaccinated for the highly contagious respiratory infection.

“There is still the potential for death if it’s not treated; pertussis can be very serious,” said Paige Batson, the county’s manager of disease control and prevention, referring to the illness by its medical term.

All 11 cases are located in the southern portion of the county, she said, and involve victims from 1 month to 49 years old. The bacterial illness is particularly serious for infants and children.

Commonly spread by coughing and sneezing, pertussis typically begins with cold-like symptoms but progresses after several weeks to an increasingly severe cough.

“That’s where it becomes serious, especially for the young, non-immunized children,” Batson said.

Repeated bouts of severe coughing result in a lack of oxygen reaching the brain, she said, leading to complications such as apnea or encephalopathy.

Complications for adults are much less common, although coughing typically lasts for weeks or even months, health officials said, and can result in rib fractures.

Most children are immunized for whooping cough, although some don’t receive the vaccine due to illness or by choice.

“Over time, the vaccine wears down so people need boosters,” said Susan Klein-Rothschild, a spokeswoman for the county’s public health department. “This is a good example of why it’s so important to keep up on vaccinations. This is totally preventable.”

Vaccinations are recommended at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months and 15 months, along with booster shots at 5 and 12 years. Adults who did not receive a booster as a teen should also talk to their medical provider about receiving the vaccine.

“For the most part, getting vaccinated is No. 1,” Batson said. “If somebody is exposed to pertussis, they should see their physician and get what we call prophylaxis and treatment.”

In other words, anyone who has come in contact with someone who has a confirmed case of whooping cough should be treated with antibiotics to help prevent the spread of the illness.

While health officials have yet to determine if the recent string of cases are all connected, Batson said there are definitely links between several victims.

“Of the 11, there are about four different groups,” she said.

Pertussis, which received its common moniker of whooping cough from the loud “whoop” sound caused when children inhale after repeatedly coughing all the air from their lungs, affected more than 25,000 people in the United States in 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most of those victims recovered, although the infection is responsible for roughly 10 to 20 deaths annually.

In Santa Barbara County, the most recent outbreak of the illness occurred in 2005, when a total of 34 cases were confirmed. Since then, figures have dropped off until recently — with eight cases in 2007 and only three in 2008.

Health officials said they are monitoring the situation and continuing to urge residents to receive the vaccine if appropriate. As far as the 11 recent cases, Batson said only one required a three-day hospital stay.

“They are all recovery well,” she said. “It looks like it’s been fairly mild.”

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Incomplete information : 7/2/2009

“Of the 11, there are about four different groups,” she said. What are these groups? This information would be very helpful.

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