PORT ANGELES — A student at Port Angeles High School who was diagnosed with whooping cough is the only person to have been identified with the disease on the North Olympic Peninsula so far this year, health officials said Thursday.
The Port Angeles School District announced this week it had been notified by the Clallam County Department of Health and Human Services that the boy, whom officials are not identifying, tested positive for pertussis, also known as whooping cough.
School officials distributed the information to parents via email.
“This is the first confirmed case in 2016,” said Dr. Christopher Frank, Clallam County health officer.
The student was potentially contagious at the school between April 19 and May 8, district officials said.
Officials will not comment about where he might have contracted the disease, Frank said, adding it is one way to protect his anonymity.
Officials would not release his age.
Pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the nose and throat caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.
It begins with an upper respiratory infection that is characterized by coughing, sneezing, runny nose and occasional vomiting.
The disease is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing that often makes it hard to breathe. After coughing fits, a person with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths, which result in a “whooping” sound.
Pertussis can affect people of all ages but can be very serious, even deadly, for babies younger than 1.
High school students don’t face as high a risk, Frank said, because they most likely have been immunized against the disease or have built up a natural immunity over the years.
Partial immunity
With adolescents and adults, “a lot of people have some partial immunizations,” Frank said.
“Maybe they have had some immunity, but it has waned or they are immunized. In those groups, it shows up more as a real long cough.
“People are unwell, but they are not super sick. It is pretty rare to be hospitalized as an adult or an adolescent.”
Student immunized
The infected high school student was immunized for the disease before becoming infected, Frank said.
“That is a common issue with pertussis immunization and is the reason periodic boosters are given through a lifetime to maintain immunity,” he said.
Frank urges residents to get immunized or re-immunized.
In the normal population, the disease is commonly found year-round “circulating at a low level among adults, but they don’t get very sick,” Frank said.
“The most important piece is to make sure everyone is up-to-date on their immunizations because that provides the best protection against pertussis.
“Also, anyone who has symptoms of pertussis in the high school should see their medical professional because it can be treated for most people.”
District officials strongly encourage students who have an exemption waiver for immunizations to get a D-TaP or T-dap booster from their health care providers or Health and Human Services staff.
For more information, call Port Angeles School District nurse Marlene Bradow at 360-565-1599 or 360-565-1777, or the county Health Department at 360-417-2274.
Outbreak in 2015
Jefferson County, which experienced an outbreak last year that spread to Clallam County, has had no confirmed cases since Jan. 1, said Lisa McKenzie, Jefferson County Public Health communicable disease program coordinator.
“In the spring of 2015, we did definitely have an outbreak here,” she said.
“In that year, we ended up with 42 cases of pertussis. The last pertussis case we had reported was on Dec. 22, so we haven’t had one yet this year.”
In years with no large outbreak, “we generally have anywhere from one to three cases identified in Jefferson County,” McKenzie added.
Altogether in 2015, Clallam County had five confirmed cases, Frank said.
The exact date of the last confirmed case in Clallam County was unavailable Thursday, although Frank said it was in 2015.
And, Frank continued, the last confirmed case most likely did not have a direct link to the current case.
“It is probably not direct transmission from a case in 2015 because it is way too far out for that,” he said.
Across the state
Statewide, the number of confirmed cases is down from the same period in 2015, according to the state Department of Health’s weekly pertussis update released last week.
Year to date, the state has confirmed 160 cases, compared to 521 reported cases in 2015.
With seven cases confirmed so far this year, Grays Harbor has the most confirmed cases by county per capita, according to the weekly report.
With 24 cases confirmed to date, Clark County on the Oregon border has the most cases overall, according to the weekly report.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
