health education

The Panhandle Health District (PHD) stressed the need for pertussis immunization due to increased incidence of the disease.

Recently, medical practitioners diagnosed two infants in Idaho with pertussis or whooping cough. There are 57 cases of pertussis recorded this year in five counties. Officials claim that the figure is eight times higher than average rate of pertussis with the previous years. This calls for the people in all ages to submit their selves to vaccination against the disease, a PHD official says.

The two infants were currently under treatment and observation in an intensive care unit. The disease is fatal especially to babies 6 months and younger.

Pertussis is a bacterial infection and is highly contagious. The disease mostly affects children and babies, though there some cases of the disease found in adult population. Initial symptoms of the disease include upper respiratory conditions such as sneezing, runny nose, and mild coughing. After a week or two, severe coughing is notable and characterized by a whooping sound. Severe coughing may induce vomiting and dyspnea or difficulty of breathing. If untreated, the condition may lead to severe cases of malnutrition, pneumonia, encephalitis, and seizure attacks.

Officials suggest revaccination of adults with at least one dose even if they had the vaccine before in their early life. Adults and teenagers are the common carriers of the bacteria. The pertussis bacteria transfer to another person by airborne transmission. The bacteria will travel from an infected person’s mucous discharges by coughing or sneezing.

Vaccination is the best method in controlling and preventing the spread of the disease, experts say. However, the immunity from the vaccine decline over the passing years. Officials claim that the vaccine is not only intended for the babies. They suggest that adults and teenagers get the booster dose to protect oneself from exposures with the disease. Usually, infants have the vaccination when they reach the ages 8 weeks, 16 weeks, and 24 weeks, and a booster after 3 years.