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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pertussis reported in North Idaho

The Spokesman-Review

A 3-year-old at North Idaho College’s Children’s Center has contracted pertussis, also known as whooping cough, a highly contagious bacterial disease.

As a result, about a third of the center’s 60 children – those displaying cold-like symptoms – were sent home, said Stacy Hudson, an NIC spokeswoman. NIC required that all children sent home be tested for the disease.

Results are available within 72 hours, an NIC news release said.

This is the first reported case of pertussis in North Idaho since January, when about 15 cases were scattered among school districts in Rathdrum, Athol and Post Falls, said Cynthia Taggart, a health district spokeswoman.

Pertussis starts as a runny nose that lasts for about a week then develops into a cough. It spreads easily and can be fatal for children younger than 6 months old, Taggart said. The health district does consider this case contained within the child care center, but sent out an alert to doctors to pay extra attention to children with runny noses, Taggart said.