Whooping Cough Threatens Families
With the school year just beginning and the fall season approaching, whooping cough is threatening Anchorage families, just as it is already posing a serious health problem in other parts of the state, such as Juneau. “It can be very serious, even deadly, for infants under the age of one,” warns the Department of Health.The monthly tally of whooping cough cases reported by the Alaska Department of Health so far this year is as follows: January, ten; February, four; March, seven; April, thirteen; May, six....
The problem began in June, with twenty cases. And in July, there were 71 cases reported. The Department of Health will not update the number of cases registered in August until the end of the month, just after the closing of the edition of the Sol de Medianoche. “Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease,” the Health Department reports. “It is caused by the bacterium Bordetella Pertussis, which is spread through the air in droplets produced by coughing or sneezing.” Whooping cough is a violent, uncontrollable cough that often makes breathing difficult. “After several coughing fits, a person with pertussis often needs to take a deep breath that produces a whooping sound. Whooping cough can affect people of all ages, but can be very serious, even fatal, for infants under one year of age.” The Alaska Department of Health recommends vaccination of “all children and adults,” following the Center for Disease Control (CDC) schedule, and most especially vaccination of people “in close contact with infants under one year of age” and of pregnant women. |