More Than One Student Diagnosed with Whooping Cough in Princeton Public Schools

The whooping cough case at Community Park School is not the only recent case of the illness in the Princeton Public Schools district. At least one student from Riverside Elementary School was diagnosed with whooping cough recently. School district officials sent a letter to parents last week alerting them of the issue (see below).

A student at the Community Park School in Princeton tested positive for whooping cough and parents were informed of the illness in a letter from school officials yesterday (see below). The students tested positive despite having been vaccinated. The parent has provided Planet Princeton with the student’s vaccination record from a medical professional to prove that the student had indeed been vaccinated.

Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser said one of the cases was diagnosed prior to school starting and the student was already on medication, so the whooping cough was deemed non-communicable. The other case was just identified and the health office has reached out the school nurse.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial disease of the nose, throat and lungs that causes long bursts of coughing. It is caused by the bacterium Bordetella Pertussis. Whooping cough can cause violent coughing fits as children choke and gasp for air while making a whooping sound. Adults and older children still get whooping cough, but they may not make the characteristic “whooping” noise when coughing and are often not diagnosed.

Numerous articles have documented evidence that the newer vaccine against whooping cough wears off sooner than expected.

Babies need protection from whooping cough because this disease can make them very sick and is very contagious. People with whooping cough usually spread the disease by coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who then breathe in the bacteria that cause the disease. Many babies who get whooping cough are infected by parents, older siblings, or other caregivers who might not even know they have the disease. When babies catch whooping cough, the symptoms can be very serious. Young babies could get pneumonia and many have trouble breathing. About half of babies younger than 1 year of age who get whooping cough end up in the hospital, and a few even die from the disease.

Because the disease can make babies so sick, and they can catch it from anyone around them, they need protection. If you are pregnant, you’ll need the whooping cough vaccine in your third trimester. Surround your baby with vaccinated family members and caregivers and make sure your baby gets all his doses of the whooping cough vaccine according to the  CDC’s recommended schedule.

whooping cough Riverside School Princeton

Princeton Whooping Cough Letter Community Park School

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Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.