Yvette McNeal, principal of H.B. Whitehorne Middle School, has emailed parents to say that there is a case of whooping cough at the school. She is urging parents whose children have not had the DPT or TDaP vaccine, or whose immune system has been compromised, to contact their physician. The school note did not say which grade the affected child is in.
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.
