Whooping cough in school in New York

[zumalong]

Have been an RN for over 25 years and a mom for almost 17. Our school district has had a recent outbreak of pertussis 48 confirmed cases. Most of these children are between 9 and 17 years old. Four of our sports teams (who all participated in Reginals) have been heavily affected. The county health dept nurse told me they are hoping for the best but there are big state tests and finals next week so after that they hope to "clean school, disinfect, and maybe it will die down".

Am I crazy, or is this going to be truly taken seriously only if there is a tragedy in our small rural community. Everything I can find on web talks about outbreaks of 1 to 3 cases not 30 plus. Anyone out there with more information about the pertussis.reimmergence?

[BluegrassRN]

Zumalong, can you contact your local newspaper's health beat, and ask them to cover it?

I'm a freakin nurse, but I didn't recognize pertussis in my own family until my husband started whooping...the kids had it for several weeks before he did. If it's difficult for nurses to recognize, it must be difficult for the public. Additionally, I had no clue that it was endemic in our area. My husband's doc wouldn't even test him for it; she didn't believe it was a possibility. My kids' doc was awesome, and ended up treating my kids and my husband. I think that the pediatricians are the ones with whom to partner.

I hope you can get the word out! Good luck.