United States: The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health announced Thursday that five people in Putnam County developed whooping cough (pertussis).
The laboratory documentation for whooping cough cases began on Friday, January 17, according to the agency.
More about the news
According to the agency reports, “The BPH has been working closely with the local health department to monitor the situation and ensure appropriate measures are taken,” wsaz.com reported.
“A notification has also been sent to impacted residents regarding potential exposure,” the report continued.
The BPH observed no surge in West Virginia cases like those observed around the country beginning last summer.
Health officials plan to provide Governor Patrick Morrisey with updates on future pertussis developments.
The local health representatives have issued stern warnings about whooping cough infections, which have appeared throughout our specified area.
What more are the officials stating?
Word of an internal notification issued through social media channels circulated to Marshall Health Network employees.
A memo issued reports four confirmed whooping cough infections at Hurricane High School in Putnam County, with further cases found in Cabell County and Lawrence County, Ohio.
Health officials from the Putnam County Health Department have shared details about their identification of a single confirmed case occurring locally.
Hurricane High School sent text alerts to parents directing them to check Schoology or HHS Facebook for information about whooping cough in their community.
The Cabell-Huntington Health Department cannot estimate the total number of whooping cough cases throughout their service region at this time.
Disease on the rise
During the onset period, the illness displays symptoms that can easily be mistaken for an average cold.
People can experience whooping cough infections for several weeks or multiple months until their cough disappears.
The spokesperson for Marshall Health Network declined to verify the original source of the memorandum when WSAZ made their inquiry.
According to their spokesperson, we received a directive to speak with Dr. Joseph Votta of Marshall Health Network, who confirmed to WSAZ that multiple whooping cough cases appearing linked qualify as an outbreak.
“Recently, we have observed an increase in pertussis cases in our community,” as per Marshall Health Network.
The respiratory disease pertussis or whooping cough is known to spread easily between people.