The number of whooping cough cases in Nebraska’s most populated county continues to rise. Dr. Audi Pour is the Director of the Douglas County Health Department and says this has health officials very concerned.
“I became really concern last week when we had 13 confirmed cases of whooping cough in our community.”
Dr. Pour says the Health Department is informing the community on this
illness and has contacted schools to pass word onto parents that they
need to keep a close watch on their child’s health.
“We have sent out 21 observation letters to schools where we had a
single case of pertussis.”
Dr. Pour says the low number of adults with up-to-date whooping cough vaccinations is alarming.
“Only six percent of the adults are getting the booster shots. Let’s
say you are a grandma and are going to take care of the infant, you need to get that booster shot.”
Dr. Pour says it is also very important that parents make sure their
children have up-to-date inoculation records as well.