WESTFIELD—According to the Westfield Board of Health, the city has seen an increase in pertussis diagnoses in the schools, leading to what Public Health Director Joe Rouse called an “outbreak.”
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, has been confirmed in a total of seven students in Westfield schools, five of which are at Westfield High School, according to Westfield Supervising Public Health Nurse Debra Mulvenna. Mulvenna made the announcement during yesterday’s Board of Health meeting.
“Technically, once five cases in one demographic is confirmed it is an outbreak,” Rouse said, according to Massachusetts standards.
Notices were sent to parents, according to Mulvenna, including general advisories and contact advisories for parents.
Rouse said that parents should be aware of the disease, but that there does not appear to be a need for concern at this point. He said that effective control measures were put in place and that the disease is “treatable,” through a course of antibiotics.
“Concern would be not knowing what to look out for,” he said.
The illness is a respiratory infection, which is typically spread through coughing and sneezing.
From the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) website on the disease, pertussis is most dangerous for babies, with about half of the babies under one year of age “who get the disease need care in the hospital.”
The CDC website reports early symptoms typically begin as cold-like, with a possible mild cough or fever. Babies may have a symptom known as apnea, or pause in breathing. Other symptoms, which can last for one to two weeks, can include a runny nose, as well as the cough, fever and apnea.
The disease can progress to later-stage symptoms after one to two weeks, which includes paroxysms, or fits of coughing that are followed by a ‘high-pitched ‘whoop’ sound,” vomiting during coughing fits and exhaustion after coughing fits.
According to the CDC website, the disease can last as long as 12 weeks, with gradual recovery in the “convalescent stage” of the disease, though fits of coughing may occur.
According to Rouse and Mulvenna, pertussis incidents in the city are usually around one or two a year.
“Every year people get pertussis, it’s going to happen,” Rouse said.
Rouse said that there used to be many more cases, but with vaccinations, the numbers have gone down. However, the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, Rouse said, and there may be an increase due to children having not been vaccinated before.
Mulvenna said though, that vaccination against the disease is important.
“Your best bet to protect yourself is to get vaccinated,” she said.
And according to the CDC website, “The best way to prevent pertussis (whooping cough) among babies, children, teens, and adults is to get vaccinated. Also, keep babies and other people at high risk for pertussis complications away from infected people.”
Good hygiene is also suggested to reduce the spread of the respiratory illness.
