It’s as if it were a bulletin from the early days of The Bradford Era: Cases of pertussis reported in the community.
But it’s today, in 2024, when two area school districts have issued notes of caution to the community saying cases of whooping cough have been reported. At Otto-Eldred School District, Superintendent Matt Splain released a statement on social media: “Otto-Eldred Elementary School received reporting of a whooping cough case this week. The student is currently under medical care and has not been in school for 2 weeks. Pertussis cases have been rising nationwide, including in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has seen the most reported cases so far this year. The U.S. has seen a five-fold increase in reported cases in 2024 compared
to 2023.”
At Smethport Area School District, a student wasn’t mentioned, but the cautionary statement prior to Thanksgiving asked folks to review an update on whooping cough from the school nurses. “We are still experiencing cases of pertussis circulating in our community,” the notice read.
Both schools included informational statements on pertussis, how to recognize it and what the Department of Health recommended for treatment.
The health department and CDC noted that Pennsylvania has had 2,657 cases so far this year; last year there were 305 cases. The most recent week reported, which ended Nov. 23, had 35 cases in the state.
“Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, follows a relatively typical cycle that sees cases rise and fall, with illness peaks occurring every 2 to 5 years – this is a normal occurrence and should not be considered abnormal or thought of as an ‘outbreak,’ stated Neil Ruhland, deputy press secretary for the health department.
There has been a rise in the state, particularly in areas with greater population density, he said, like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. “The majority of outbreaks that have been reported are from middle school, high school or college settings. The number of reported pertussis outbreaks increased throughout the 2023-24 school year, that trend is expected to continue into 2025. No reported deaths due to a pertussis diagnosis have occurred in Pennsylvania in 2024,” he said.
The health department sent out a health alert and has been presenting educational materials to daycares and school settings.
“Vaccination against whooping cough is the best way to prevent the disease,” Ruhland said. “Children should routinely be vaccinated with a DTaP vaccine at two months, four months, six months, 15 to 18 months, and again at 4 to 6 years.
“Adolescents should be up to date with the whooping cough vaccine and the last vaccination of Tdap at 11 to 12 years of age,” he said. “Adults should get a Tdap vaccine every 10 years.
“Pregnant women should receive Tdap between 27 and 36 weeks gestation with each pregnancy, regardless of prior vaccination history. The youngest children can get the first dose until two months of age.”
The vaccine rate in the state is 94.6% for kindergarten students, 92.4% for seventh graders, and 97.1% for 12th graders.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Reports of pertussis cases were lower than usual over the past few years, during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the United States is beginning to return to pre-pandemic patterns where more than 10,000 cases are typically reported each year.
“It’s likely mitigation measures used during the pandemic (e.g., masking, remote learning) lowered transmission of pertussis. In 2024, reported cases of pertussis increased across the United States, indicating a return to more typical trends.”
“Pertussis is an acute bacterial disease caused by Bordetella pertussis spread through airborne droplets,” the health department noted. “The incubation period is typically 7 to 10 days but can range from 5 to 21 days. Patients are infectious from the onset of symptoms until 3 weeks after the cough starts or until after 5 days of appropriate antibiotic treatment.”
It is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. In many people, it’s marked by a severe hacking cough followed by a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like a “whoop.”
