Whooping cough epidemic in Wenatchee, Washington, makes case for vaccinations

Professor Matthew Hay, the famous Scottish physician and public health champion, ” … assailed by the furies of typhoid, measles, influenza, whooping cough and scarlet fever,” the same furies that affect public health around the world, including Wenatchee, Washington  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thinking about skipping the DPT shot for your kids?

Read this story out of the Wenatchee (Washington) World about what happens to a small town when a significant number of people do that, and one of the kids gets sick.

EAST WENATCHEE — With 31 cases of whooping cough reported in Chelan and Douglas counties, health officials are saying the disease has reached epidemic proportions.

“People should be taking action to prevent it from getting worse by getting their Tdap shots, especially those people who are around infants,” said Mary Small, director of community health and preparedness at the Chelan-Douglas Health District. “Infants are at highest risk for death and hospitalization.”

The shots are for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, which is also known as whooping cough.

At last report, in early May, the two counties had a total of 22 cases this year. In 2009, there were no cases of pertussis in the two counties; in 2010, there was one case; and in 2011, there were two cases and one probable case, Small said.

You say your town isn’t as isolated as Wenatchee, Alaska?  Then there are higher odds that some stray person with whooping cough will wander into your town.  Your town is not as small as Wenatchee?  Then the odds are higher that you’ve got enough uninoculated kids to make an epidemic spread quickly.

Vaccinate the kids, will you?  They don’t need whooping cough.

More, and Related Articles:

• Alberta’s new top doctor issues vaccination plea amid whooping cough outbreak (calgaryherald.com)
• Hickenlooper Promotes Whooping Cough Vaccine (denver.cbslocal.com)
• Whooping cough numbers continue to skyrocket (komonews.com)
• Whooping cough epidemic continues to surge in Wash. (komonews.com)
• Whooping cough outbreak in Kansas spurs calls for vaccinations (kansas.com)
• Adults, as well as children, need to be vaccinated against whooping cough – The Seattle Times (drugstoresource.wordpress.com)
• Whooping cough widespread but waning in Johnson County (kansascity.com)
• To be or not to be:  The Prevention and Public Health Fund (The Pump Handle)
• A shot in the dark:  Vaccine funding cuts a gamble for good health (Pump Handle, again)