Verona Superintendent Steven A. Forte said at Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting that there has been one case of whooping cough at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School.
Whooping cough, which is also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory disease transmitted by bacteria. It can produce very serious coughing that can make it hard to take a breath. Children are normally immunized against it with the DTaP vaccine for infants and young children and Tdap vaccine for those in middle school. If contracted, pertussis can often be treated with antibiotics.
The school district has posted an information sheet about pertussis on its Web site. If your child experiences severe coughing, see a doctor.
