Whooping cough spreads in Brookline, 19 cases reported

Students at both Brookline High School and Runkle Elementary School got sick, officials said.

Cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, spread throughout Brookline last month, resulting in 19 cases throughout the town.

The risk to the public is still low, Public Health and Human Services Director Sigalle Reiss and Superintendent Linus Guillory Jr. said in a joint statement last week.

The first case was reported at Brookline High School on June 5, the officials said. Another case was reported at Runkle Elementary School. The families of students were notified, and guidance was given to school staff on how to prevent further infection.

Officials said that 15 cases had been identified as of last Thursday. Reiss said Tuesday that there are now 19 confirmed cases throughout Brookline, mostly in people around the age of a high school senior.

The last day of school for Brookline students was June 17.

“At this time, we feel that the public health risk is low, however with the school year ending, we feel it is important to update the community about the situation and steps our residents can take to avoid exposure to pertussis and other illnesses,” Reiss said in the statement.

A bacterial infection, whooping cough can easily spread from person to person via droplets from the nose, mouth, and throat. Coughing, talking, or sneezing can spread these droplets. Cases in older children and adults are usually mild, but young children and infants can get seriously ill.

Earlier this year, officials reported that cases of whooping cough were growing more common nationally. The number of cases reported by late May was nearly three times higher than the amount reported at the same time in 2023.

Symptoms usually appear between seven and 10 days after a person is first exposed, but can take up to three weeks. Early symptoms are very similar to those caused by a common cold, but coughing fits eventually become common and can last up to 10 weeks. These coughing fits can lead to vomiting, broken ribs, difficulty sleeping, trouble breathing, and fatigue, according to the CDC.

Many infants who catch whooping cough do not actually cough at all, and the illness appears like a common cold for its entire duration. Infants can experience life-threatening pauses in their breathing, leading to them turning blue.

Brookline officials stressed the importance of vaccination. The vaccine for children younger than 7 is called DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) and the vaccine for older children, adolescents and adults is called Tdap. The latter is required for all Massachusetts students entering seventh grade, and is recommended for adults every 10 years. Anyone who spends time around infants should be vaccinated, officials said.

“While vaccination is the best prevention against diseases like pertussis, it does not provide absolute prevention. At Brookline High School, 99% of seniors are vaccinated against whooping cough,” officials said.

People who catch whooping cough are infectious one week before their cough starts and until three weeks after it starts, or until they complete five days of antibiotic treatment.

“It’s really important, if you have symptoms and you’ve been exposed, to get on that course of antibiotics. It really shortens the infectious period of when you can spread it,” Reiss said Tuesday.

Those who think they have been exposed to whooping cough should contact their doctor and have a lab test done. Those who are high-risk individuals (people with weakened immune systems, women in their third trimester of pregnancy, and infants) or who live with them should request preventive antibiotics.

Questions about the situation in Brookline should be directed to the Public Health Nurse Elizabeth Bennett at 617-730-2320.