LUMBERTON, New Jersey (WPVI) — During the pandemic, respiratory illnesses such as influenza and whooping cough have dropped significantly due to the many restrictions imposed.
Cases are now back to pre-pandemic levels.
As children return to school, doctors want to urge parents to be vigilant.
Lumberton resident Juliet Osborne knows her 10-year-old daughter, Emani, well. Emani has multiple chronic illnesses, but the symptoms that began in July were unusual.
“I had whooping coughs in the middle of the night, I couldn’t eat from 4am until about 8am, I was just so exhausted,” Osborne said.
They ended up going to the emergency room and were surprised when the test results came back.
“Two days later, close to midnight, I was shocked to receive the news that she had whooping cough,” Osborne said.
Whooping cough is known to many as whooping cough.
Osborne said Emani had been vaccinated and her symptoms were not severe.
But she is not alone.
The CDC says whooping cough cases are returning to pre-pandemic levels because many people are not taking enough precautions.
“This year, in August 2024, we will see three times as many cases of whooping cough as we did in August 2023,” said Dr. Alfred Sacchetti of Virtua Health.
According to CDC data, 1,666 cases have been reported in Pennsylvania through Aug. 17, 2024. New Jersey had 128 cases during the same period.
Sacchetti says whooping cough is highly contagious and can be especially dangerous for infants and young children.
“Children have coughing fits and can’t breathe, and when the coughing fit finally subsides, there’s a loud ‘whoosh’ noise the next time they take a breath – that’s where the disease gets its name,” he said.
Doctors encourage both children and adults to get vaccinated.
Adults need to get a booster shot every 10 years.
And as the new school year begins, Dr. Sacchetti reminds people that things like washing your hands and not coughing on others can go a long way in preventing the spread of germs.
What are the symptoms?
According to the CDC, it usually takes 5 to 10 days for symptoms to appear after exposure to the bacteria that causes whooping cough, but it can also take up to 3 weeks for symptoms to appear.
Whooping cough initially resembles the common cold. Initial symptoms last for 1-2 weeks and usually include a runny or stuffy nose, slight fever, and occasional mild cough.
Many babies with whooping cough don’t cough at all, but instead may have apnoea (a life-threatening cessation of breathing), which can cause the baby to become cyanotic (turn blue in the face) and have difficulty breathing.
For some babies, whooping cough may feel like a common cold, not just at the beginning but throughout the illness.
A week or two after the first symptoms begin, a coughing fit may occur, which usually lasts for one to six weeks but can last up to ten weeks.
Infants and children who do not receive all the recommended whooping cough vaccines are at higher risk of developing serious complications. Teenagers and adults may also develop complications, including pneumonia.
For more information about whooping cough, visit cdc.gov/pertussis/.
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