AppId is over the quota
SALEM, Ore. – Public health officials are closely watching a rash of whooping cough cases in Washington state, urging people to protect themselves and infants against the potentially deadly disease.
Dan Powers/The Post-CrescentFifteen-month-old Chace Schuh, of Menasha, is administered a diptheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccination Thursday at ThedaCare Physicians Pediatrics in Appleton as he's comforted by his mother, Bridget VanStraten (left), and pediatrician Patricia Callahan (center).
Dan Powers/The Post-CrescentFifteen-month-old Chace Schuh, of Menasha, is administered a diptheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccination Thursday at ThedaCare Physicians Pediatrics in Appleton as he's comforted by his mother, Bridget VanStraten (left), and pediatrician Patricia Callahan (center).
As of last week, Washington reported 1,284 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, this year, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's more than 10 times the number of reported cases at the same time last year.Dr. Karen Landers, health officer with the Marion County Health Department here, said whooping cough outbreaks occur in epidemic levels every three to five years."That's because pertussis circulates, and it never really is gone," she said. "Periodically, you see a new group of people who are susceptible."Officials in states like Oregon, which is known for having a high exemption rate for shots required for children in day care or school, have reason to be concerned. This school year, the kindergarten religious exemption rate reached 5.8 percent statewide. Public health officials say the ideal is for at least 95 percent of children to have all their required shots.Dr. Jim Lace, a pediatrician here, said vaccinating children against pertussis is the same kind of risk management parents employ when they put kids in car seats."What parents lose sight of is that they think whooping cough is not serious or it's a conspiracy for people to make money," he said. "For a lot of parents, they don't always deal in realities when it comes to risk management. We still see whooping cough all the time. And we see it in the unimmunized population."Vulnerable groups include infants who are too young to fully be vaccinated and children who are middle- or high-school age as protection from their childhood vaccines wanes, Landers said.Last year, more than a third of pertussis cases in Oregon were among people 11 and older."It could be some folks not getting the vaccine, or some not getting the booster shot," Duncan said. "It's never just one thing."For infants too young to be vaccinated, Landers said it is important to create what she calls a cocoon of protection around the babies. That means parents, siblings, baby sitters and anyone who could come into contact with the vulnerable group should be immunized.A new recommendation for pregnant women to get a booster shot could benefit their newborns, the Oregon Health Authority said.Vaccination recommendationsA series of five diphtheria-tetanus-acellular-pertussis vaccines (DTaP) is recommended for all children at ages 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months; a fourth dose at 15 to 18 months old; and a fifth dose at 4 to 6 years.A once-in-a-lifetime Tdap (with a reduced amount of diptheria toxoid) booster is recommended for children ages 7 to 10 who have not completed their childhood series of DTaP, adolescents 11 to 18 years of age, women who are 20 or more weeks into a pregnancy and all nonpregnant adults.Source: Centers for Disease Control and PreventionFor more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
