Swan River School takes on pertussis
Flathead County has 19 confirmed cases of pertussis, or more commonly known as whooping cough, and as of May 12 four cases of pertussis have been confirmed at Swan River School, three from the second grade class and one from the fourth grade. Pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes intense coughing for six or more weeks.
“We’ve been very aggressive with the assistance of the county health department to take precautions to minimize the illness here and recommend that students that are sick stay home,” Swan River School Principal Peter Loyda said. “They say it starts off as a common cold, but we’re not looking to send every student home with a sniffle.”
The first case was confirmed on May 4 at 3:30 p.m. and Loyda used the AlertNow system to notify all the parents simultaneously. The system sends out the same email, text message, voice mail or phone call so they could all be informed at the same time with minimal risk of misinterpretation.
Swan River School has been working with Bigfork Schools on getting the word out to parents as students at Bigfork Schools may have siblings at Swan River School. Swan River School also postponed their middle school dance, which they had invited Bigfork Middle School students to attend last week.
The first symptoms of pertussis can appear within five to 21 days after a person is infected. It begins like a common cold with a runny nose, sneezing, mild fever and coughing. After one to two weeks the coughing gets worse.
In young children the coughing fits are often followed by a whooping sound as they try to catch their breath. The pertussis bacterium lives in the nose, throat, and mouth and spreads through the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or talks and a nearby person inhales the bacteria.
Although the illness can only be contracted through the air, the custodians at Swan River School have doubled their efforts in eliminating it in the building.
“The biggest thing for me is we want to handle this professionally and carefully without panicking or causing parents to panic,” Loyda said. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that.”
Death from pertussis is rare; approximately 10-20 deaths each year in the United States are from pertussis. It can be dangerous for infants and can cause failure to breath, pneumonia, and swelling of the brain, which can lead to seizures and brain damage.
A doctor may diagnose a patient with pertussis based on their symptoms, but to confirm the diagnosis a doctor needs to take a sample from the patient by using a swab on the back of the nose. However, laboratory tests may be negative even if a patient has pertussis.
Once diagnosed, antibiotics are administered to the infected person and to those in close contact with him or her. Antibiotic treatment can help prevent the spread of the illness, even if the person has already been vaccinated.
Pertussis vaccinations are given with diphtheria and tetanus vaccines in the same shot, called DTaP. DTaP is given to children under the age of seven, but older than six weeks.
Most pertussis related hospitalizations and deaths occur from infants under three months old. Any infant with coughing symptoms should see a doctor. Vaccination is recommended at ages two, four, six, and 15-18 months with an additional shot at four to six years old for a total of five doses.
However, pertussis vaccination is also recommended for some older children and adults because the vaccines wear off. A new vaccine, called Tdap, has been developed against pertussis for these age groups.
The majority of Swan River School’s staff has received the vaccination Loyda said.
For more information about pertussis, visit the Center for Disease Control’s website http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vdpvac/pertussis/default.htm or call your family health provider or the Flathead City-County Health Department at 751-8110 and ask for the nurse on call.