Bordetella pertussis (B. Pertussis) is a small coccobacillus but very deadly.
GREENVILLE, MI - After a Greenville High School student was diagnosed with whopping
cough, unvaccinated classmates were told they must stay home for 20 days.
The policy affects "a handful" of students, and teachers will work with them to help them keep
up with their studies, said Greenville schools Superintendent Peter Haines.
The parents were informed of the policy Wednesday, Feb. 4. Several parents came to school
Thursday morning saying their child was immunized overnight or to update their records with
documents showing they already had the shot, Haines said.
The decision to keep unvaccinated children out of school is in keeping with a
recommendation from the Mid Michigan District Health Department, which covers Montcalm,
Clinton and Gratiot counties. The medical director, Dr. Robert Graham, sent a letter to school
superintendents in December discussing the surge in vaccine-preventable illness in Michigan,
including whooping cough, and how districts should respond. "When a vaccine-preventable
disease occurs in a school, unvaccinated children should stay home one full incubation cycle
from the last time a case of the vaccine preventable illness occurs," the letter states. "In a case of
pertussis, an unvaccinated child should stay home from school one incubation period, which is
20 days after the last diagnosed case." The letter also said, "Parents wishing to have their
children return to school may obtain an appropriate dose of a pertussis-containing vaccine. The
child could return to school on the day following immunization against pertussis."(Jackson,
2015)
Pertussis, a respiratory illness commonly known as whooping cough, is a very contagious
disease caused by a type of bacteria called Bordetella pertussis. Pertussis is found only in
humans and is spread from person to person. People with pertussis usually spread the disease by
coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who then breathe in the pertussis
bacteria. Many infants who get pertussis are infected by older siblings, parents or caregivers who
might not even know they have the disease. Symptoms of pertussis usually develop within seven
to ten days after being exposed, but sometimes not for as long as six weeks.(“Pertussis
(Whooping Cough) Vaccine,”n.d.)
The decline in the fatality of measles since the advent of the sulphonamides has left whooping cough
preeminent among the killing diseases of infancy. The appearance of this monograph therefore
enables us to take stock of the situation; although it was published in 1943 in the U.S.A. and has
come somewhat belatedly into our hands, the sum of our knowledge has not altered in any material
respect since that year.
Lapin investigates the history, epidemiology, bacteriology, pathology, immunology, serology, clinical
manifestations, haematology, X-ray diagnosis, complications, diagnosis, prophylaxis of non-exposed
children, prophylaxis of contacts, specific treatment, non-specific treatment, treatment of
com-plication’s, and public health recommendations.(LAPIN, 1943) The CDC recommends pregnant
women and adults who encounter infants to have the Tdap tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccine given
as a preventative measure due to this recent outbreak.
References
Jackson, A. (2015, February 4). Greenville
Public Schools student diagnosed with whooping
cough. The Grand Rapids Press.
LAPIN, J. H. (1943). Whooping Cough., viii+238 pp.
Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Vaccine. (n.d.). A federal government Website managed by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C.
20201. Retrieved from http://www.vaccines.gov/diseases/pertussis/
Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C.
20201. Retrieved from http://www.vaccines.gov/diseases/pertussis/
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