Whooping Cough Case Confirmed at San Miguel Elementary School

Six new cases of whooping cough were reported by the county on Thursday, including one case involving a student at San Miguel Elementary School. The pertussis case total is now 205, the agency reported today.

According to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, the student is an 11-year-old who was due for a booster shot.

This is the second confirmed case in the Lemon Grove School District this year. An 11-year-old who was not immunized was diagnosed with whooping cough in March. That child was a student of at Monterey Heights Elementary School.

“Pertussis continues to spread in our community especially among those who have not been fully immunized,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County Public Health Officer. “Immunizations help protect children from whooping cough. Parents should check with their pediatrician to make sure their child is up-to-date with immunizations, including the pertussis booster shot if they are entering 7th to 12th grade this fall to comply with the new school law.”

A typical case of pertussis—known as whooping cough for the distinctive sound those who have it make when suffering fits of coughing caused by the disease—starts with a runny nose and cough for about one to two weeks. That period can be followed by weeks to months of the rapid coughing fits, according to the agency. Fever, if present, is usually mild. The disease is treatable with antibiotics.

The other new cases of whooping cough confirmed in the county involve a 3-year-old who was not up to date on vaccinations, and attends Sanderling Waldorf School in Encinitas; and a 3-year-old who was current on vaccinations, and attends Mission Montessori Preschool in Oceanside.

Public health officials continue to urge vaccination, and recommend a pertussis booster shot (Tdap) for children 7 to 9 who did not get all their routine childhood vaccines, and for everyone 10 and older who have not yet received it.

For more information about whooping cough, please call the HHSA Immunization Branch at (866) 358-2966, or visit the web site at www.sdiz.org.