Cda Group Exposed To Whooping Cough

People who attended the North Idaho Home Education Association meeting at Christ the King Lutheran Church on Tuesday may have been exposed to whooping cough.

A child in the early stages of whooping cough was at that meeting. Anyone who attended the meeting is encouraged to contact their doctor or health care provider, the Panhandle Health District said.

Anyone who spends two hours in the vicinity of someone with whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is considered exposed to the illness. It is quite contagious. The incubation time is between six and 20 days.

Whooping is a serious respiratory disease that hits both children and adults. It affects the lungs, and sometimes vomiting or a whoop occurs with the cough.

The whoop is caused by air trying to get through a constricted airway, Panhandle Health said.

Six cases of whooping cough have been reported in Bonner and Kootenai counties in the past week and eight probable cases have been identified. It is the third outbreak in 18 months.

, DataTimes