Whooping Cough Case Confirmed at Dessau Middle School

PFLUGERVILLE, TX -- A Dessau Middle School student has been diagnosed with pertussis -- commonly known as whooping cough -- district officials confirmed.

The confirmed case of whooping cough also prompted the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Service Department officials to notify parents via correspondence on Jan. 9, KXAN-TV reports.

It’s the second case in as many weeks in the area. Last week, health officials confirmed another case at Williams Elementary in South Austin.

Officials urge parents to ensure their children’s immunizations are up to date. Affected children should stay home from school until cleared by a health professional, they added.

Last year, the station reports, there were 1,360 cases of whooping cough statewide. The year before, two deaths -- including one in Travis County -- was attributed to the condition.

The child who died was too young to have received a vaccination.

According to the Mayo Clinic, it takes up to ten days for whooping cough symptoms to appear after initial infection. At first mild resembling those of a common cold, symptoms get progressively worse.

Among the symptoms: Runny nose; nasal congestion; red, watery eyes; fever and cough.

After a week or two, Mayo Clinic officials say, signs and symptoms worsen. Thick mucus begins to accumulate in the airways, resulting in uncontrollable coughing. Severe and prolonged coughing fits may provoke vomiting; make the face red or blue in tint; result in extreme fatigue; result in a high-pitched “whoop” sound at the next, post-cough breath of air.

Infants might not actually cough at all; instead, they might struggle to breathe or even endure temporary stops in breathing.

Officials at whoopingcough.net say the bacteria causing the condition are carried in the lungs, nose and throat. To catch it, one has to inhale that bacteria coughed out by someone else.

Since the bacteria doesn’t live outside the body, the bacteria is transmitted in the air.

People in the same house can infect each other as can children in school while in close proximity. The bacteria doesn’t pass easily between adults because they tend to cough away from people rather than directly on one another as children sometimes do, according to whoopingcough.net.