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Public health officials were informed Wednesday night that a teenager from Eureka had tested positive for whooping cough, also known as whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory disease.
During a follow-up survey, the communicable disease staff identified 40 possible contacts during the patient's contagious period. All are now notified.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pertussis is a cyclic bacterial infection that culminates every three to five years. Immunity, whether obtained by the vaccine or by the disease, usually disappears after five years, leaving previously immunized children again vulnerable to adolescence.
"Even though the CDC vaccination schedule is scrupulously followed, whooping cough in particular sometimes remains insufficient, partly because of declining immunity," said Hava Phillips, a nurse in charge of communicable diseases overseeing public health.
During a 2014 outbreak in Humboldt County, more than 190 cases of whooping cough were confirmed. At the state level in 2014, more than 11,000 Californians tested positive. More than 9,000 cases were reported in 2010, including 808 hospitalizations and 10 infant deaths. In 2017 and 2018, no cases have been reported in Humboldt County.
The CDC notes that whooping cough can have serious effects on the health of people of all ages, but that infants are at higher risk.
"Approximately half of infants diagnosed with whooping cough will be hospitalized, so it is critical that pregnant women be vaccinated during the third trimester to provide newborns with maternal antibodies," Phillips said.
The CRPD strongly recommends the use of a booster shot for those over 11 who have not yet received it.
The CDC says the illness usually begins with cold-like symptoms and sometimes with a mild cough or fever before turning into severe coughing. In babies, coughing may be minimal or nonexistent. Babies may have a symptom called "apnea", which is a break in the child's breathing pattern.
Across the county, just over 91% of kindergarten children received all required doses of the vaccine. More than 93% of Grade 7 students received a reminder.
For more information on whooping cough, visit the site the CRPD websiteTalk to your doctor or call the Communicable Disease Program at the Public Health Branch at 707-268-2182. To make an appointment for a vaccine, contact your health care provider or call the Public Health Clinic at 707-268-2108.
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