Whooping Cough Outbreak Hits Southern Maine

According to a recently published maine.gov press release, the Maine Center of Disease Control has announced that it is currently investigating and working on controlling a whopping cough outbreak in Portland, Maine and the surrounding northern suburbs of the city.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, Director of the Maine CDC said, "Whooping cough, which is also called Pertussis, is a respiratory infection that can cause a persistent, severe cough, especially in infants."

Just earlier this week, the Maine CDC was notified that a young infant was hospitalized in Portland and diagnosed with Whooping cough. An investigation ended up revealing that there were 10 others who had whopping cough symptoms and needed treatment for the serious infection.

The Maine CDC found out that most of the patients were children and some were even unvaccinated. Also involved with the small outbreak are four schools, a daycare, and two sports teams. Within those groups, the Maine CDC has advised 80 additional people to seek antibiotics to prevent getting whooping cough.

Mills said, "We have been in close contact with the school nurses, day care provider and team coaches to make sure that all affected parents and children are appropriately notified. We are sending notices home to parents of these schools, sports teams and day cares to provide those parents with guidance and to answer their questions."

Currently, the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory is conducting tests on dozens of people to make sure they don't have the infection. As always, the Maine CDC is pushing to make sure all children are vaccinated, especially in the Portland area after the outbreak.

Mills added, "This cluster is a reminder for all parents to make sure our children's vaccines are updated," Mills said. "By a child's second birthday, they should have received four vaccines protecting against Pertussis, a booster between ages 4-6 and another booster after age 11."

Whooping cough is a respiratory disease caused by bacteria. It starts out with cold like symptoms, but gets worse and eventually turns into a painful and deep cough with a "whoop"-like inhalation. The best way to protect children from whooping cough is to make sure they are vaccinated. Whooping cough can easily be caught by unvaccinated older children carrying the infection. Infants are at the highest risk of catching the dangerous infection.

Those with symptoms of whooping cough or concerns about Pertussis should contact their local health care provider. Additional information is available at: http://www.mainepublichealth.gov and http://www.cdc.gov.