Whooping Cough Cases Soar in Sonoma County
06/25/2010 -
By KERRY BENEFIELD
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 7:50 p.m.
Health officials declared a whooping cough epidemic in California on Wednesday at the same time Sonoma County officials are reporting 48 confirmed cases locally — up from four at the same time last year.
California had 910 recorded cases of whooping cough as of June 15, five of which resulted in deaths. All five deaths were Latino children under 3 months of age.
Infants are particularly at risk from whooping cough because even with a full vaccination schedule that begins at six weeks of age, full protection does not occur until a baby reaches six months, said Mary Maddux-Gonzalez, Sonoma County’s public health officer.
“They are more likely to get it, and they are more vulnerable to the complications,” she said Wednesday. “You really want to make sure that everyone who comes in contact with that child has been appropriately immunized.”
“It’s often transmitted from parents,” she said. “We are really encouraging parents to get immunized.”
Lack of information and inoculations in agricultural regions in the state’s Central Valley — home to many Latino farm workers — might be the reason for the high current incidence in that community, said Dr. Gilberto Chavez, the deputy director of the California Department of Public Health’s Center for Infectious Disease.
Locally, health officials said they have reached out to primary care physicians, day care providers and prenatal support personnel, using a communication system last employed to disseminate information about swine flu.
California is on pace to break a 50-year-old record for annual infections of whooping cough, also known as pertussis.
The 910 confirmed cases statewide is up from 219 cases at this time last year. At least 600 additional cases are under investigation by local health departments.
Health officials said the number of confirmed cases may only be a fraction of the number of people who actually have the disease because it has symptoms of a harsh, lingering cold.
Other symptoms include a runny nose and fever but not always the so-called “whooping noise.” Anyone suffering a persistent cough should seek medical advice, officials said.
“We haven’t actually had any reportable laboratory cases,” said Dr. Karen Tait, Lake County’s health officer. “Anecdotally, I’m aware of enough people with persistent coughs that I suspect it’s out there.”
Unlike some other vaccines, the whooping immunization loses its efficacy over time, health officials said.
Anyone over the age of 11 and especially those who care for newborn children are urged to get a pertussis booster.
Those boosters are now readily available — sometimes in a joint shot with the tetanus booster — another medication recommended every 10 years.
“This is where it is really concerning,” Tait said. “Older adults’ immunity has long since worn off, but if they are caring for young infants, they can transmit it to very young infants.”
Despite the dramatic increase in cases, officials say the worst could be yet to come.
The whooping cough season typically hits its peak in July and August.
Periodic outbreaks of the disease are not uncommon. Surges in cases occur cyclically, according to health officials.
But the numbers likely are also exacerbated by the decision by a growing number of families, especially in the North Bay, to opt out of immunizations.
California’s “personal belief exemption” is considered one of the most lax in the nation and in Sonoma County the number of family’s opting out is steadily growing.
The percentage of fully immunized students entering kindergarten classes in Sonoma County has steadily dipped from 91.6 percent in 2002 to 87.7 percent in 2008, according to state records. The statewide average is down by 0.6 points over the same period.
In nine school districts, six of them in the west county, the percentage of fully immunized kindergartners is less than 80 percent, a Public Health Department analysis said. Two school districts are below 60 percent.
“There is such a thing as herd immunity — when an adequate number (are immunized), those that aren’t receive some protection thanks to those who are,” Maddux-Gonzalez said. “Some people feel that this is an individual decision, but it can have a very serious consequence for other members of the community.”
“Many people have not seen some of these diseases and how serious they can be,” she said.
Related Links:
Whooping Cough Cases Soar in Sonoma County
Whooping Cough Epidemic Declared in California
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