Thousands Without Vaccines Required to Start School

Even as warnings went out that students at four Montgomery County schools may have been exposed to pertussis, or whooping cough, health officials say that thousands of area students still aren’t vaccinated against the disease.

The contagious respiratory disease has sickened 12 children to date who attend 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 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.

Parents of about 4,200 seventh-graders have not complied with Montgomery County Public Schools’ new vaccinations requirements, reports Montgomery Community Media, and the oversight could keep the students out of school.

Those students received a letter late last week letting them know that they did not have the necessary vaccinations needed to attend school, Anderson said.

All Maryland students entering seventh grade this school year must show proof of one Tdap (Tetnus-diptheria-acellular pertussis) vaccination and one meningococcal (MCV4) vaccination, health officials said.

Students who do not provide proof of the immunizations will be kept out of school starting Sept. 12, Anderson said.

Whooping Cough Symptoms

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.