Seven confirmed cases of pertussis, or whooping cough has prompted the Winnebago County Health Department to send a letter home to families at the school.
The department as well as leaders at the school hope to contain the illness before it spreads any further, but with an incubation period of up to 3 weeks it is likely there will be more cases in the coming days.
After the initial cases, the health department found the connection was a recent bus trip the band took to New York City. That is a perfect example of a place transmission could occur; enclosed spaces like cars or buses for an extended period of time, as well as in class or sharing saliva through food and drinks.
However, it soon spread and there were cases coming from students not involved in the trip and in other grades.
The symptoms begin like a cold with a cough that lingers and eventually gets worse.The disease is most serious in infants and unimmunized children.
If you or your child develops these symptoms, you should contact your primary care physician immediately. Upon diagnosis, five days of anitibiotic treatment is needed before a child can return to school and social activities.
Students were not in school today as part of a previously scheduled professional development day for teachers. School officials say it did provide a timely opportunity for some extra disinfecting to be done at the school.
For more information on pertussis, click here or contact the Winnebago County Health Department at 920-232-3000.
