Whooping cough diagnosed in Hill County

Pertussis — better known as whooping cough — has swept across the state, with health departments diagnosing almost 12 times as many cases as last year at this time, and two cases have been diagnosed in Hill County by the end of last week, Hill County Health Department Kim Larson said.

“Right now, Montana has 442 cases of pertussis this year,” she said. “At the same time last year we only had 37 in the state of Montana, so there is a big increase this year.”

Pertussis is not a curable disease. People can take treatments to help prevent becoming ill. It is treatable with prophylaxis treatment and symptoms can be reduced through use of antibiotics. After a certain period of antibiotics, the person with whooping cough should no longer be contagious. A cough might still occur after treatment, but should get better over time. Pertussis can occur at any age but is one of the most deadly diseases of infants and young children of modern time and is highly contagious.

In recent months, Blaine County has diagnosed 13 cases of pertussis, Liberty and Chouteau counties have each diagnosed one and Havre wo cases, the Montana Department of Health and Human Services website says. It added that Missoula County leads the state with 165 cases.

Blaine and Chouteau county health departments were unavailable for comment as of print deadline today, but the Health and Human Services site shows no new cases reported in those counties since the Havre Daily News’ last story on the issue, July 23.

Liberty County Health Nurse Melissa Kantorowicz said the county has not had any new cases diagnosed since that date.

Larson said the Hill County Health Department has its nursing staff investigating the cases. She added that the nursing staff has already contacted people whom they are monitoring for symptoms.

Whooping cough is not normally diagnosed this time of year, she said, but with the school year starting and several other counties having diagnosed cases people could have contracted the disease from multiple places and at any time.

Although pertussis is dangerous for infants, making it hard for them to breath and them having a serious cough, adults with might be mistaken as either allergies or the common cold, she said.

The best defense against pertussis is to get and stay updated on vaccinations, she said.

The vaccine for pertussis is given in combination with diphtheria and tetanus, and is commonly called DTaP.

Larson said that she believes the state has several pockets of people who do not vaccinate, which will always lead to an increase of vaccine preventable diseases, such as pertussis and measles.

“It’s coming back,” she said. “… I think that’s a big contributing factor.”

Even if someone is vaccinated, vaccinations tend to wane over time, its protective, ability needing boosters, she said. No vaccination is 100 percent protective but by utilizing community immunity — or herd immunity, where more than 90 percent of the community is vaccinated — the community is protected by those outbreaks.

She added that people who have a persistent cough should let their primary care provider know and people should stay home if they are sick.

Larson said if people have any other questions they can call the Hill County Health Department at 400-2415.

A press release sent Monday by the Hill County Health Department said the schedule/recommendations for vaccinations are:

• Birth through 6 years: DTaP is routinely given at 2, 4, and 6 months, at 15-18 months, and at 4-6 years.

• 7-10 years: Single dose of Tdap for those not fully vaccinated with DTaP.

• 11-18 years: Tdap is routinely given as a single dose for those 11-18 years of age.

• 19 years and older: Adults who have not received a dose of Tdap should get one as soon as possible to protect themselves as well as infants they may be around.

• Pregnant Women: Pregnant women should receive a dose of Tdap during each pregnancy, preferably at 27 through 36 weeks gestation to hopefully provide passive immunity to their child that will protect them in early life.

The release said pertussis usually begins as a mild upper respiratory infection. Initially, symptoms resemble those of a common cold, including sneezing, runny nose, low-grade fever and a mild cough. Within two weeks, the cough becomes more severe and is characterized by episodes of numerous rapid coughs followed by a crowing or high pitched whoop. A thick, clear mucus may be discharged by coughing. These episodes may continue or recur for one to two months, and are more frequent at night. Older people or children who have received some pertussis vaccine generally have milder symptoms.

The release said it is especially important that parents monitor their children for a cough-like illness and ideally withhold them from school and day care until it has been determined that they do not have pertussis.