OAKDALE LEADER
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Wednesday, November 16, 2005 12:43 PM PST

"Whooping cough," which is scientifically known as Pertussis, is on the rise in Stanislaus County, it was announced this week by the county Health Services Department. The disease is a highly communicable, vaccine-preventable disease that lasts for many weeks and is characterized by persistent coughing sometimes followed with vomiting.

This year 61 cases have been reported, 18 of these were reported in October. Of these 18 cases, 11 were from Turlock and at least 3 were due to a common exposure. Many others were symptomatic, but not tested. Infected cases ranged in age from 3 months to 67 years, with 5 cases being 11 years old.

"We have been monitoring this issue closely for the past two years. We identified an increase during 2003, but cases decreased during 2004. " stated Dr. John Walker, Public Health Officer for Stanislaus County. "This June we notified healthcare providers of a regional outbreak in the valley. They were updated again last week because the recommended intervention did not appear to be tapering this outbreak."

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