Breanna Kimball comforts her 18-month-old daughter, Kylie, as  registered nurse Patty Ewing administers  vaccinations for hepatitis A and diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis on Wednesday at the Kids Clinic near downtown Spokane.

A whooping cough outbreak has worsened in Kootenai County, infecting 43 children as investigators scramble to track down suspected sources of the disease.

The episode underscores a stubborn problem in Idaho: the failure of parents to vaccinate their children against infectious disease.

The outbreak, already five times greater than those in recent years, has not yet resulted in hospitalizations, said Cynthia Taggart, spokeswoman for the Panhandle Health District. Pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, can be treated with antibiotics. And it can be prevented with vaccines. John Stucke, SR. Read more.

How concerned are you about the failure of Idaho parents to vaccinate their kids?

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