MORGANTOWN — Whooping cough cases have been on the rise in Monongalia County, totaling five separate cases.
Families can protect themselves from whooping cough in a variety of different ways, according to Dr. Brian Huggins, the medical director and county health officer at the Monongalia County Health Department.
“Vaccination is really the only way to protect against whooping cough,” Huggins said. “The only other thing would be to avoId people who are sick. The way adults and children are vaccinated is a combination vaccine that comes with tetanus and diphtheria — DTaP or Tdap. Unfortunately, the vaccine is not as long-lasting as a lot of other vaccines.”
Tdap/DTaP vaccines are around 65-70% effective and that effectiveness wanes with time, according to the CDC.
There are a wide variety of different symptoms associated with whooping cough, Huggins said.
“Early symptoms can seem like a cold — mild fever, cough, runny nose and sinus congestion. Late symptoms can include violent, rapid and uncontrolled coughing fits,” he said. “Babies can struggle to breathe and can experience apnea, which is life-threatening pauses in breathing.”
Huggins added symptoms of whooping cough could last up to 10 weeks.
“Whooping cough is caused by bacteria and the treatment is an antibiotic, which can shorten the length of symptoms,” he said. “Your primary care provider should be able to help you. If symptoms are severe, you can go to an urgent care or the emergency department. Treatment typically reduces that infectious period.”
Symptoms of whooping cough can take a couple of weeks to begin showing, Huggins added.
The infection period of whooping cough is a bit longer than most other infections, Huggins said.
“You are infectious from the time your symptoms start until at least two weeks after coughing begins,” he said. “Pertussis does have a much longer infectious period than a lot of other illnesses. You could potentially be infectious for four weeks.”
Vaccines for whooping cough begin during infancy, Huggins said.
“DTaP is a five-dose series,” he said. “You get a dose at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 months and 18 months. The first dose of Tdap is 11 to 12 years of age. After that, you get it every 10 years.”
Huggins added that he recommends people who think they have come in contact with an individual with whooping cough should seek out medical attention and get a post-exposure dose of antibiotics.
