Official: Awareness May Be Increasing Reports of Whooping Cough

Earlier this week officials at alerted parents to a small number of cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough.

While other communities and some schools in the Chicago area have reported large outbreaks of whooping cough, in DuPage County the cases reported have been spread out throughout the county and large outbreaks have not occurred, according to an official at the DuPage County Health Department.

So far, the number of pertussis cases among students at District 203 has been few, but officials said in an e-mail to families there is concern the numbers may be increasing.

During 2011, the number of pertussis cases reported throughout DuPage County was 245, said David Hass, public information officer for the DuPage County Health Department. Those cases were spread across the entire county and numbers grew month-to-month. There were no outbreaks in any one area or community.

Compared with 2010, when 92 cases of pertussis were reported in DuPage County, the number of cases in 2011 was significantly higher, Hass said adding that the increase in the number of cases might be due to greater awareness of the illness and more accurate laboratory tests.

“One of the reasons we believe we are getting higher numbers is because it has come to the attention of physicians that it is out there in the community and so they are more aware and diagnosing it and reporting it more,” he said.

Diagnostic testing for the illness has also improved, which means there are more accurate numbers within the community, Hass said. Pertussis is a reportable illness, which means that a doctor must report to the health department within 24 hours of a patient being diagnosed. It is also a vaccine-preventable illness.

Pertussis is highly infectious and can be easily spread through coughing or sneezing, according to the Health Department. The illness is usually mild in older children, but it can last for several months.

The first symptoms of pertussis are similar to those of a common cold: a runny nose, low-grade fever and a mild occasional cough for at least 2 weeks, which can become severe and spasmodic — with a distinctive “whooping” sound — and may trigger vomiting after a coughing episode, according to the Health Department.

The illness can be life threatening among certain people, particularly infants under 1-year-old or children who have not been fully immunized.

The DuPage County Health Department has a community fact sheet with more information on pertussis.