Whooping cough hits the county

Whooping cough vaccines available

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, November 14, 2008

Diane Thorson

Otter Tail County health officials, in response to recently confirmed cases of pertussis (whooping cough) in the Fergus Falls area, are reminding people that vaccines are available at most clinics and doctors' offices.

“In Otter Tail County we began encouraging students and adults to get the Tdap vaccine last year,” County Public Health Director Diane Thorson said. “This was part of school immunization clinics and presentations at public health clinics. We encourage the parents of children to get the Tdap shot when we immunize their child.”

Whooping cough, more prevalent in the Alexandria area than in Otter Tail County at the present time, is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes intense and persistent coughing in older children and adults. In infants it can be fatal.

On Tuesday evening Lake Region Hospital began restricting visitations. At the Birthing Suite Unit, visitors were restricted to the father or significant other. The policy was initiated after consultations with pediatricians and OB-GYN physicians at the Fergus Falls Medical Group.

Thorson said that whooping cough, compared to a normal cough, is escalated four to five times.

“This (excess coughing) oftentimes, in whooping cough cases, is followed by vomiting,” she said. “A person inflicted with pertussis also may notice a crouping sound in the throat.”

Statewide, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, about 40 new cases of whooping cough have been reported this fall. Among those are cases in the Albert Lea area of southern Minnesota. This brings the total for the year to 375.

Whooping cough usually peaks every three to five years. The last cyclical peak came in 2005, when 1,571 cases were reported.

"Up until this point we were having a very mild year," said Kris Ehresmann, head of immunization for the Minnesota Department of Health.

Babies routinely get vaccinated for pertussis at two, four and six months, but they are not fully protected until after their third shot. Young children get another dose before entering school.

However, the vaccine wears off and older children can become infected — as in the case in Alexandria and Douglas County. For most of them the illness can result in weeks of coughing, and they can infect vulnerable infants.

Last year, in Minnesota, 11 infants were hospitalized for pertussis.

Both Ehresmann and Thorson say the vaccine has not reached all populations. The latest cases, they said, are a good reminder that Minnesotans have a vaccine available.

“People should take advantage of it,” Thorson said.

Nationally, only about a third of adolescents and teenagers have received it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For more information, contact the county health department at 218-998-8320.

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