Whooping cough in my school

[perla75]

I got a notice in my elementary school mailbox the other day that whooping cough is going around the school I work at.

Doesn't that seem odd? I thought whooping cough doesn't really occur anymore-just get a shot for it when you are young.....though I work in an urban setting & lots of poverty.

Is it normal that cases of whooping cough are traveling around my school?

 

[themilesfamily]

The whooping cough (or pertussis) vaccine is only 90% effective. So some people who get the vaccine will still get the disease.

ETA: And the effectiveness of the vaccine wears off after about a decade. The vaccine does not provide lifelong immunity.

 

[themarquis]

Lol ... welcome to the anti-vaccine era.

Vaccination % have dropped by a ton in the last few years and there have been epidemics of some diseases we don't usually see here in the US.

The problem will most likely only get worse in the next few years ....

 

[java]

Well again my daughter is one of my 4 children and she doesn't have the Pertusis vaccine- She stopped breathing when she had her first DTP shot as an infant. She was deemed highly allergic and is not allowed to have any more of that shot. She got DT not the P from then on.

My other chidren are vaccinated. It scares me to death when a resurgance crops up. She has a cough right now. I'm hoping it's not anything serious. (But believe me it's better than her being dead from the shot.)

Her incident led to a call from the FDA- her batch was a "bad" batch.

But I wasn't taking anymore chances with her-as directed by MY DOCTOR.

 

[flying_babyb]

Wooping cough. Wow. That worries me. I thought our school had it bad with Hoof and mouth.

 

[monkey68]

Unfortunately, with the anti-vaccine era, I have a feeling we will be seeing more cases of not so common anymore diseases coming back. Some people are generally unable to get the vaccine because of allergy or other adverse reaction, and those people rely on herd immunity. But, with less people getting vaccinated, that herd immunity shrinks and becomes less effective.

 

[Deb in IA]

I thought our school had it bad with Hoof and mouth.

Your students have hooves?

 

[boppy]

I live in a pretty rural area. This past fall we had a pertussis (whooping cough) outbreak with over 30 confirmed cases. At one point, over 120 kids were absent, including my two. They were sending home anyone who was coughing. Any child sent home had to show proof that they had been on antibiotics for 5 days before returning to school. Even though my kids had a negative test result for pertussis, they still had to be on antibiotics. The other option was to not medicate them, but then they had to stay out for 21 days after they stopped coughing.
I guess there is a booster that kids are supposed to get when they are around 10. The theory here is that not all the kids are getting that booster. Most of the confirmed cases were in that age group.
We also have a lot of Amish in our area.

 

[CookieDiva]

Your students have hooves?

I am sure that she was referring to Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (and I am sure that you knew that too ). But I have to admit that I have always referred to HF&MD as Hoof and Mouth Disease too (even though I knew that I was wrong.)

 

[Deb in IA]

I am sure that she was referring to Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (and I am sure that you knew that too ). But I have to admit that I have always referred to HF&MD as Hoof and Mouth Disease too (even though I knew that I was wrong.)

I know . . . I was just havin' some fun!!

 

[CookieDiva]

I guess there is a booster that kids are supposed to get when they are around 10. The theory here is that not all the kids are getting that booster.

Deb can tell us more about this, but I think that it had something to do with the booster that was given along with the Tetanus booster. It wasn't all that long ago that they did not give the booster for pertussis, but now with the resurgence of the disease in the community, pertussis is being added to the tetanus booster for older children and adults.

Last year DH and my doctor gave us a shot of tetanus with pertussis. She said that she was doing this for all of her adult patients since she had treated a couple of patients with whooping cough and told us "there's a reason they call it the 'hundred day cough" and that one of her patients had broken ribs from coughing so violently. She was hoping not to have to see that again. I don't know if the guidelines have changed for adults yet, or if this varies from doc to doc.

 

[CookieDiva]

I know . . . I was just havin' some fun!!

Figured. Medical humor.

 

[golfgal]

Whooping cough has been popping up the past 10 years or so partially because of the effectiveness wearing off, partly because of people not getting immunized. It isn't as bad for older, healthy kids which is why they don't tend to give boosters.

 

[magiroux]

Also, in Mass, the test is sent out to the state lab and the results are not available for three weeks. A child in my care was tested over a week ago for whooping cough. The child's Dr sent a note to day care the day after she was tested saying she wasn't contagious. I also have an infant in my home that since has contracted RSV which is not as dangerous to infants as whooping cough, but still pretty serious.

For such a dangerous illness, especially to infants and elderly, I really wish I didn't have to wait three weeks for test results.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

My daughter's school is having an issue with lice at the moment -- 15 kindergartens, and 5 older children. I'm so grateful tomorrow is a 1/2 day and it's a long weekend.

 

[golfgal]

Well again my daughter is one of my 4 children and she doesn't have the Pertusis vaccine- She stopped breathing when she had her first DTP shot as an infant. She was deemed highly allergic and is not allowed to have any more of that shot. She got DT not the P from then on.

My other chidren are vaccinated. It scares me to death when a resurgance crops up. She has a cough right now. I'm hoping it's not anything serious. (But believe me it's better than her being dead from the shot.)

Her incident led to a call from the FDA- her batch was a "bad" batch.

But I wasn't taking anymore chances with her-as directed by MY DOCTOR.

Our twins don't have the pertusis vaccine at all. They had seizures right after birth so they didn't get the pertusis vax. They have had everything else though.

 

[mefordis]

Now when are they going to come out with a vaccine against lice? I'd rather see my kids with chicken pox than lice. Ewwww. Both itch.

My daughter's school is having an issue with lice at the moment -- 15 kindergartens, and 5 older children. I'm so grateful tomorrow is a 1/2 day and it's a long weekend.