Parents Warned To Immunize Kids After Outbreak Of Whooping Cough

Health officials urged parents to ensure their children are fully immunized against pertussis after five local cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed.

Also called whooping cough, pertussis is a respiratory disease that lasts about two weeks and can be life-threatening in infants. The classic symptom is coughing so violent that it makes victims vomit.

“As we actively pursue a complete investigation of each case, we hope we can keep it under control,” Kathy Holley, director of the Central District Health Department, said Wednesday.

All five victims are adults. They include a student and an employee at Boise State University and three of their friends or family members. None was hospitalized.

About 20 people who came into close contact with the victims are taking a 14-day course of erythromycin, an antibiotic that can ward off the illness.

So far this year, Idaho has reported more pertussis cases - 543 - than any other state. Cases have been reported periodically statewide, but the disease reached epidemic proportions earlier this year in the Panhandle. There, 158 people were stricken and a 2-month-old baby died.

Fully immunized children usually are well-protected against pertussis. But only about 62 percent of 2-year-olds living in Ada, Boise, Elmore and Valley counties have current pertussis shots.

The immunization rate climbs to near 100 percent for older children because the shots are required before entering school.