Washtenaw County had highest number of reported whooping cough cases statewide in 2010
Washtenaw County had more reported cases of pertussis than any county in the state in 2010, health officials said Wednesday.
Health care providers reported 233 cases of pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, in 2010 to the Washtenaw County Public Health Department, officials there said this week.
"It is certainly unprecedented in the past 20 years," said Laura Bauman, epidemiologist for the Health Department. The Health Department began tracking pertussis in 1992, she said; through the 1990s, the county had recorded one to three cases each year.
Across the state, health officials reported 1,564 cases of the bacterial infection, the most since 1962, said Joel Blostein, the vaccine preventable disease epidemiologist for the Michigan Department of Community Health.
Washtenaw County health professionals treated a high number of whooping cough cases in 2010.
Whooping cough has been traditionally thought of as a child’s illness, he said. But a booster for the vaccine, called Tdap, was developed for adults in the mid-2000s. A Tdap vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria and cellular pertussis.
“Once you have an intervention you can use, it sparks interest,” he said. It could have always been occurring in adults all along without being diagnosed, he said.
Better recognition of the disease combined with improved testing methods could also account for the high number of cases. Additionally, he said, pertussis tends to peak on a natural cycle.
Unlike in years past, in 2010, 56 percent of cases were found in adolescents 10 and older and adults.
“If you had looked at pertussis 15 or 20 years ago, you wouldn’t have found much being reported in that age group. It wasn’t that it wasn’t there, it’s that it wasn’t being looked for there,” he said.
The vaccine is not 100 percent effective in preventing the disease, which can be deadly, especially to infants. In February 2010, a 3-month-old child from St. Clair County died from the disease, the only reported whooping cough death in 2010.
Whooping cough in southeast Michigan
In 2010, 1,564 cases of whooping cough were reported to the Michigan Department of Community Health, officials said. Washtenaw County had more cases reported than any other county in the state.
- Washtenaw County, 233 cases
- Livingston County, 125 cases
- Wayne County, 123 cases (29 in Detroit)
- Oakland County, 173 cases
Other ideas put forth as possible reasons for the surge of whooping cough cases include the theory that the organism responsible for the infection has evolved over time to become more virulent or better able to evade immunity.
“It’s intriguing, but there is no good evidence,” Blostein said.
Whooping cough — its scientific name is pertussis — is highly contagious via respiratory droplets coughed and sneezed out.
According to the public health department, initial symptoms appear seven to 10 days after exposure and usually include:
- Low-grade fever, runny nose, sneezing and occasional coughs. The cough becomes more severe in one to two weeks and can last for a month or longer.
- Vomiting during severe coughing episodes and turning blue of nails and lips from lack of air.
- A feeling and appearance of relative health in between coughing episodes.
In children under 1 year old, complications from the disease can include pneumonia, convulsions and, rarely, brain damage. Pertussis deaths typically occur in infants younger than 2 months.
Juliana Keeping is a health and environment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter
Comments
Tarlach
Sun, Feb 27, 2011 : 5:25 p.m.
She should be coughing into her elbow, not her hand and yeah, it's amazing how people people still think vaccinations are bad for you. Bill Gates said it best: "And so the people who go and engage in those anti-vaccine efforts — you know, they, they kill children. It's a very sad thing, because these vaccines are important."
mhirzel
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 5:46 p.m.
This is totally irresponsible reporting. This reporter does not enlighten readers of the fact that the Washtenaw County Health Department has acknowledged that "MOST of our pertussis cases this year have been vaccinated." I made this reporter aware of this fact after her last article on the subject. This is no insignificant fact.
A2Dave
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 1:18 p.m.
Thank you to all the misinformed vaccination-phobes who swallowed and fostered the bilge of one now thoroughly debunked, fraudulent report, to put their and everyone else's kids at risk from a variety of dangerous and preventable infectious diseases. For a community that prides itself on its image of intelligence and worldliness, ideology-driven "science" is embarrassing and dangerous.
Elaine F. Owsley
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 12:54 p.m.
I am constantly amazed that otherwise intelligent people refuse to protect their children by having them vaccinated. The previously low incidence of many of the childhood illnesses is due to caring parents, and those who have seen what the "childhood" diseases can do to both children and adults, having been vaccinated themselves and caring enough about their children and others' children to obtain protection for their kids. Myths and misguided beliefs are dangerous to everyone. You have only to look to Africa and other underdeveloped places on this earth so see what lack of vaccination can do.
DagnyJ
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 10:34 p.m.
I will bet that the rate of vaccinations in Washtenaw County is low compared to the rest of the state. There is trend among middle class white parents of various ideological persuasions to skip vaccines because they fear some side effects. They put many more people at risk with this irresponsible behavior.
DFSmith
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 2:22 a.m.
I know a few friends, where the moms are both U-M law School graduates, who refuse to vaccinate their kids. The seem to believe in all kinds of conspiracy theories. add to that a "progressive" political ideology that sees all big pharma companies as evil entities in our society, in cahoots with the medical establishment, and there is no way to convince these moms that vaccines are necessary and useful.
Dos
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 12:01 a.m.
I agree, Ann Arbor parents
Susan Cerniglia
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 9:47 p.m.
I apologize, my earlier statement about the 233 cases is not completely accurate. The majority of cases are lab-confirmed. Some cases that fit specific criteria (called the "case definition") and/or are linked directly to a lab-confirmed case are counted. For example, the sibling of a lab-confirmed case who is coughing for more than 2 weeks or has other clinically consistent symptoms is counted. This manner of counting cases has not changed in recent years, so that does not explain the increase either. - Susan Cerniglia, Washtenaw County Public Health
DonBee
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 9:29 p.m.
We all KNOW that vaccines are an evil plot by the government to keep us down. No one in their right mind would RISK getting a vaccination. We are INFORMED and KNOW that we should never get vaccinated. Even Nature, A leading journal on Medicine and other Scientific topics SAID vaccines were EVIL. OOPS - that article was retracted and disproven, like so many other studies we use as talking points. I got my shot, why have you not gotten yours? The baby you save may matter to you.
dotdash
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 9:16 p.m.
A couple of questions for the public health dept, please: The vaccine that contains the pertussis immunization also contains diphtheria -- are we seeing increased diphtheria, too? Or is the vaccine failure specific to whooping cough? Do doctors even test for diphtheria any more? Given the strength of data now showing that there is no link between vaccines and autism, are you seeing better compliance with vaccines in general?
Susan Cerniglia
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 10:03 p.m.
No vaccine is 100% effective. The difference may be that pertussis has begun circulating again, and more people are exposed to it. Michigan as a whole has only seen 1-2 cases per year of either diphtheria or tetanus in recent years. We haven't had any cases of either of these illnesses in Washtenaw County in recent years. It is difficult to say anything about vaccine compliance specific to the autism controversy at this point. We have certainly seen an increase in the number of people getting the pertussis-containing vaccine. It's possible that the increase is due to greater awareness about pertussis in the community - and not necessarily related to the vaccine controversy. There are also new vaccine requirements for some school-age children in Michigan this year. In addition, there continues to be a variety of reasons some people delay or decline vaccines. -Susan Cerniglia, Washtenaw County Public Health
Susan Cerniglia
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 9:02 p.m.
The number of cases reported (233) is the number of lab-confirmed cases reported to Public Health during 2010. It does not include suspect or probable cases. It's likely a number of factors are contributing to the increase in cases. They include: decreasing immunity among teens and adults; unvaccinated persons; and greater awareness/improved testing. In addition, once a very contagious disease like pertussis takes hold in a community, it can be very difficult to eliminate. For more details, please visit our homepage <a href="http://publichealth.ewashtenaw.org" rel='nofollow'>http://publichealth.ewashtenaw.org</a>. -Susan Cerniglia, Washtenaw County Public Health
Krista Boyer
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 8:37 p.m.
My children had pertussis almost two years ago. They had all been vaccinated. My youngest daughter had a terrible cough that lasted well over three months. We've had outbreak notices go home in the schools, but when I asked if they had the swab test to confirm, I was told "no, but they had the symptoms" so they were treated. Perhaps it is this reason that so many cases are being reported. Have they actually been CONFIRMED cases, or just suspected?
A2Beauty
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 8:55 p.m.
If the county health department is giving the numbers, then these are cases that were confirmed by testing.
julieswhimsies
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 8:35 p.m.
Immunize. Pertussis is extremely dangerous for infants. No one is coming anywhere near my pending grandson unless their Pertussis vaccine is current.
lugemachine
Thu, Feb 24, 2011 : 7:56 p.m.
The accompanying picture of someone blowing on a set of dice is helpful.