CHICOPEE, Mass (WWLP) – Children can be exposed to different diseases, especially now that they are back in school.
Doctors recommend children be vaccinated many times for whooping cough while they are infants, before they start Kindergarten, and then again before middle school. Receiving these vaccines can prevent children from contracting the disease.
As COVID-19 continues to spread, how can you protect yourself? Whooping cough or pertussis is an infectious bacteria but is very preventable by vaccine. It is on the rise around the country and in Massachusetts, but it is only returning to pre-pandemic levels.
“They call it whoop because of the noise they make. They are having difficulty breathing. They are making a funny noise. They start losing some oxygen, they have trouble” said Dr. John O’Reilly, a pediatrician at the Baystate Health High Street Clinic.
A cough is developed which affects the respiratory system and can cause damage to the linings in the lungs but the body takes a long time to recover.
“Pertussis used to be called the 100-day cough, so in these kids, even healthy adolescents, they are going to be having this cough for months and months and months,” said Dr. O’Reilly.
In Massachusetts, there have been over 250 cases so far this year as of late July. 75% of those cases are adolescents ages 11-19, while less than 1% of cases have been in children under 6 years old.
The disease can be spread by anyone.
“Probably there is an adult, their neighbor, their friend, their family member, who has a cough, that doesn’t really recognize it as a serious illness, but when that child inhales that pertussis bacteria, then the child gets sick,” said Dr. O’Reilly.
Infants receive the vaccination at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and 18 months. When children start attending school, they will be exposed to new germs and diseases so it is recommended they get another vaccination before Kindergarten and then again before they attend middle school as the other vaccine will begin to wear off.
“The school and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health are pretty strict and if your child has not been vaccinated and there is a case reported, they are out of school for 3 weeks,” said Dr. O’Reilly.
Dr. O’Reilly is warning parents to not wait until it is too late and get the vaccines when they are recommended so their children can be healthy and have a good school year. He also said pediatricians want to see kids thriving, in school, keeping active and not getting preventable diseases.
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