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COUNCIL BLUFFS — More whooping cough cases confirmed in the area have prompted the Council Bluffs School District to schedule free vaccinations.
Vaccines to protect the district's middle school and high school students against pertussis, better known as whooping cough, will be available starting next week.
According to City Health Director Donn Dierks, 10 cases have been confirmed in the area, all diagnosed since a Roosevelt Elementary School fourth-grader became the first reported case two weeks ago.
“We have at least 15 probable cases and at least 70 to 80 contacts,” Dierks said.
The “probable” category includes those who are coughing and have been tested, but a diagnosis of pertussis has not been confirmed, Dierks said. Many of the cases appear in clusters, so the 70 to 80 contacts to which Dierks referred are people who have been in contact with the suspected pertussis carrier.
Dierks said the information has not been broken down by schools, but Lewis Central School District nurse Amy Cook said, “We have three probable (cases) at Lewis Central, and we're being cautions about kids with non-stop coughing. We have not scheduled any pertussis vaccinations. We're working with the health department.”
St. Albert Catholic School President Jim Rouse said, “We've had some kids going home sick, but no unusual numbers and no confirmed cases so far.”
Federal stimulus money will allow the Bluffs school clinics to administer the vaccine to students older than 11. The vaccination clinics schedule: at Wilson Middle School, Monday; Kirn Middle School, Wednesday; Thomas Jefferson High School, Sept. 20; and Abraham Lincoln High School, Sept. 22. All clinics will be open from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Pertussis is an upper-respiratory, highly-contagious bacterial infection that triggers violent coughing. The bacteria spreads when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Initial symptoms can include a runny nose and appear similar to the common cold. Severe coughing usually will begin about 10 to 12 days after exposure to the bacteria.
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