The latest outbreak is pertussis, or whooping cough, which has produced 15 confirmed cases in Ronan and Charlo in the past three weeks.
That compares with none in the county last year, when there were just 52 cases statewide, and what Brigid O'Connor of the Lake County Health Department characterized as a “smattering” around Montana so far this winter.
“We're seeing a lot of people with a lot of different ailments this winter, and this seems to be the latest,” O'Connor said. “It's been a rough winter for all kinds of colds, stomach bugs, and now flu and pertussis.”
Missoula County had one confirmed case of whooping cough in February and two in the past week. One recent case confirmed in Flathead County hit a person who was working in Lake County and probably contracted it there.
Whooping cough is highly contagious. Even children who've been immunized against it - as most have - can develop the illness and infect others through coughing or sneezing droplets.
“The immunization isn't 100 percent,” O'Connor said. “It's actually about 80 percent effective, and the other 20 percent can get a lighter version of the ailment. But it's just as infectious.”
None of the Ronan and Charlo victims have been hospitalized, but it can be potentially life-threatening to infants and young children.
That said, it's been an equal-opportunity disease in the Ronan-Charlo region. Three adults, two high school students, seven grade-schoolers and three infants have tested positive for whooping cough.
Lake County was spared the brunt of whooping cough's last big outbreak in Montana in 2005, when 596 cases were confirmed.
The Food and Drug Administration approved an adult booster for pertussis in 2006. Childhood shots usually lose their punch after age 10 or so, but only in the last couple of years have steps been taken to prevent older people from spreading it via the booster.
Most adults aren't aware of the booster. Bonnie Bernard of the state Department of Public Health and Human Services urged those who are due for a tetanus shot, or who step on a nail, to ask for a Tdap shot that contains the pertussis booster.
Pertussis starts out like a common cold with a mild cough, but soon the cough may become more severe and includes a long series of coughing fits, in some cases followed by a whooping noise, especially in young children. There is usually no fever.
The cough is often worse at night, and cough medicines don't tend to help. It's treated with antibiotics.
If you've had a cough for 14 days, or if you've got the post-cough whoop, it's time to get treated, Bernard said. Seek treatment if you've been in the same room for more than an hour with someone who is diagnosed with pertussis, she said.
“The schools have been very helpful in helping us identify who would be considered close contacts and helping us get a letter to their parents,” O'Connor said. “It's been a real team effort. The Ronan clinic specifically has been slammed with this.”
In a press release on Monday, the Lake County and Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes health departments urged parents to be sure all children are up to date on their immunizations. Keep children home when they are sick, no matter what they have.
Ask for the Tdap (tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis) shot if you are 11 or older. Officials also reminded people to cover their mouth when coughing and to wash their hands frequently.
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