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Whooping cough may affect 24 children
Handful of potential contacts being monitored
By NIKIE MAYO’ Staff Writer
There are at least 24 “symptomatic” children in the Grassy Ridge community of western Hyde County who have shown signs of whooping cough, and a handful of people in Beaufort and Washington counties are potential contacts of the cases.
“We worked very hard last week, and I feel safe in saying the community has received the treatment ... they need,” said Luana Gibbs, a public-health nurse with Hyde County Health Department, in an interview Monday. Cases have been treated with antibiotics, she said.
Gibbs would not release exact figures regarding the number of diagnosed cases, probable cases and potential cases. She would say, however, that most of the cases affected children. Gibbs she “felt sure” the scope of potential cases included Beaufort and Washington counties. “It may even go beyond there,” she said.
The 6-week-old girl whose case of whooping cough was confirmed late Wednesday received treatment in the pediatric intensive-care unit of Pitt County Memorial Hospital. She has since been released from the hospital. She is recovering at home, Gibbs said.
The Hope Mennonite School in Grassy Ridge was closed last week after 24 of 27 students were deemed “symptomatic,” meaning they showed signs of the communicable disease, Gibbs said. “But the health department did not close the school. We didn’t make that decision,” she said.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, begins with symptoms like those of the common cold, such as a runny nose. As it progresses, it is characterized by repeated, lengthy coughing fits, particularly at night in children. The coughs end in a forced breath — creating a high-pitched “whoop” sound, according to a release from the health department.
The disease is highly contagious and can spread through the air from a sick person during talking, sneezing or coughing. The disease most often affects children and is especially dangerous — and sometimes deadly — for children who are less than 1 year old, according to the release.
Health-department workers believe that whooping cough has been affecting the western Hyde County community for at least a month. “We think the case originated from out of state,” Gibbs said.
In each of the Hyde County cases, confirmed or suspected, the people have not received all of the necessary doses of the dyphtheria-tetanus-and-pertussis — or DTaP — vaccination, according to a release from Hyde County Health Department. The vaccination is administered as a series of four or five shots, beginning when a child is 2 months old.
Most of the shots are given before the child is 1 year old, with the last one being given before he or she starts school. The vaccination is mandatory, unless a person is allergic to it or the family has a religious objection to it.
Barbara Owens, the nursing director at Washington County Health Department, confirmed Monday there is one family in her area that is receiving “precautionary treatment. “They are contacts of contacts only,” she said. “But we do not have any diagnosed cases or any probable cases in Washington County.”
Christine Womble, a spokeswoman with Beaufort County Health Department, also said Monday there were no cases in Beaufort County. Womble said she was not aware of any “contact” cases being monitored for symptoms.
By NIKIE MAYO’ Staff Writer
There are at least 24 “symptomatic” children in the Grassy Ridge community of western Hyde County who have shown signs of whooping cough, and a handful of people in Beaufort and Washington counties are potential contacts of the cases.
“We worked very hard last week, and I feel safe in saying the community has received the treatment ... they need,” said Luana Gibbs, a public-health nurse with Hyde County Health Department, in an interview Monday. Cases have been treated with antibiotics, she said.
Gibbs would not release exact figures regarding the number of diagnosed cases, probable cases and potential cases. She would say, however, that most of the cases affected children. Gibbs she “felt sure” the scope of potential cases included Beaufort and Washington counties. “It may even go beyond there,” she said.
The 6-week-old girl whose case of whooping cough was confirmed late Wednesday received treatment in the pediatric intensive-care unit of Pitt County Memorial Hospital. She has since been released from the hospital. She is recovering at home, Gibbs said.
The Hope Mennonite School in Grassy Ridge was closed last week after 24 of 27 students were deemed “symptomatic,” meaning they showed signs of the communicable disease, Gibbs said. “But the health department did not close the school. We didn’t make that decision,” she said.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, begins with symptoms like those of the common cold, such as a runny nose. As it progresses, it is characterized by repeated, lengthy coughing fits, particularly at night in children. The coughs end in a forced breath — creating a high-pitched “whoop” sound, according to a release from the health department.
The disease is highly contagious and can spread through the air from a sick person during talking, sneezing or coughing. The disease most often affects children and is especially dangerous — and sometimes deadly — for children who are less than 1 year old, according to the release.
Health-department workers believe that whooping cough has been affecting the western Hyde County community for at least a month. “We think the case originated from out of state,” Gibbs said.
In each of the Hyde County cases, confirmed or suspected, the people have not received all of the necessary doses of the dyphtheria-tetanus-and-pertussis — or DTaP — vaccination, according to a release from Hyde County Health Department. The vaccination is administered as a series of four or five shots, beginning when a child is 2 months old.
Most of the shots are given before the child is 1 year old, with the last one being given before he or she starts school. The vaccination is mandatory, unless a person is allergic to it or the family has a religious objection to it.
Barbara Owens, the nursing director at Washington County Health Department, confirmed Monday there is one family in her area that is receiving “precautionary treatment. “They are contacts of contacts only,” she said. “But we do not have any diagnosed cases or any probable cases in Washington County.”
Christine Womble, a spokeswoman with Beaufort County Health Department, also said Monday there were no cases in Beaufort County. Womble said she was not aware of any “contact” cases being monitored for symptoms.
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tunne rat wrote on Jul 6, 2009 8:55 PM:
that is the biggest propganda word that every came out of butterfields and rino jones mouth in the past hundred years .
just 2 water boys for the obama socalist party , and a hand full of red necks that dont have a clue about whast they are talking about . "