Students at Four MoCo Schools Exposed to Whooping Cough

Students at four Montgomery County schools may have been exposed to pertussis, or whooping cough, a contagious respiratory disease that has sickened 12 children to date.

According to Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Dana Tofig, those schools include: Julius West Middle School in Rockville, Cabin John Middle School in Potomac, Robert Frost Middle Schools in Rockville as well as Cold Spring Elementary School in Potomac.

Montgomery County Heath and Human Services spokesperson Mary Anderson told MYMCMedia that there were not additional reported cases since last week. The students with the illness all attended a science camp in Pennsylvania over the summer where they were exposed to the disease. Anderson said more than 200 Montgomery County children attended the camp.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, pertussis spreads easily from person to person through coughing and sneezing. Patients are generally treated with antibiotics, which are used to control the symptoms and to prevent infected people from spreading the disease. Vaccination can often prevent the disease.

The disease is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe, says the CDC. After fits of many coughs, someone with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths, which result in a “whooping” sound. Pertussis most commonly affects infants and young children and can be fatal, especially in babies less than 1 year of age.

Although parents received a letter from the camp alerting them of their child’s exposure to pertussis, it is possible the children did not show symptoms of the illness until weeks later, Anderson told Montgomery Community Media. It can take two or more weeks for someone infected to show illness.

Anyone diagnosed is reported to the Maryland Heath Department and then in turn reported to the county’s health agency. Symptoms include a runny nose and a cough that sounds similar to a bark, according to the CDC.

From January 1 to August 16, 2014, 17,325 cases of pertussis have been reported to CDC by 50 states and Washington, D.C.; this represents a 30 percent increase compared with the same time period in 2013, according to the CDC.

Anderson said in 2013 there were 196 confirmed cases of pertussis in Maryland.

»A boy with whooping cough gasps for breath. Watch the short video to hear the characteristic cough. Credit: Centers for Disease Control.