Kindergarten Student Has Whooping Cough

A Post Falls kindergarten student has contracted whooping cough, school district officials said Friday.

Parents of students who may have come in contact with the Post Falls child have been notified. The highly contagious disease, officially called pertussis, is caused by a bacteria. It is spread through coughing and sneezing.

There also are two cases of the disease in Sandpoint and in Coeur d’Alene, according to Marie Rau of the Panhandle Health District.

Two cases have been reported in Spokane County this year.

Pertussis causes severe spells of coughing, often followed by vomiting and/or a whooping sound as the person inhales.

The disease mostly affects children under 5, and is most serious in infants. Complications can include pneumonia, convulsions, swelling of the brain and death.

Idaho reported a total of 182 whooping cough cases in 1994. That translates into almost 16 cases for every 100,000 Idahoans, the highest rate in the nation.

, DataTimes MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition