DURANGO, Colo.—Federal health investigators are in La Plata County to study the county’s high rate of whooping cough.
Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are looking for clues to explain La Plata’s unusually high rate of pertussis, also called whooping cough.
Dr. Sema Mandal of the CDC says the whooping cough cases in La Plata County are unusual because they’re in many cases missing the “whooping” noise of the cough. In the first half of this year, La Plata accounted for more than a third of all the pertussis cases in Colorado, 55 of 146 cases.
Immunizations are being offered at the San Juan Basin Health Department. The CDC investigation should take about three weeks.
Whooping cough is a respiratory tract infection spread by coughing and sneezing. Though it’s usually mild in adults, pertussis can cause pneumonia or death in infants.
“It’s too early to speculate what could account for the high number of pertussis cases here,” Mandal told The Durango Herald.
To solve the puzzle, health investigators are asking people who have caught pertussis to describe their symptoms.
They also have contacted three or four local health-care facilities to ask that their patients with new cough-related illnesses take part in the investigation. Participation is voluntary, and some patients are also giving blood samples or nasal swabs to help with the investigation.
“People have been incredibly supportive,” said Matt Griffith, a CDC epidemiologist.
In the meantime, local health authorities are trying to clamp down on the disease’s spread. The San Juan Basin Health Department is asking residents to be vigilant about hygiene and to stay away from work and school if they develop a cough.
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Information from: Durango Herald,
