Baby dies of whooping cough in King County
SEATTLE (AP) - A newborn baby who died of whooping cough last week in King County was the first pertussis death in Washington since August 2011 and occurred even though the number of new cases in the epidemic is a tenth of last spring's rate.
The Seattle-King County Health Department withheld details about Thursday's death for the family's privacy, but said it's a reminder that mothers and family members should be immunized to protect babies from pertussis.
There have been 4,658 cases of the disease in Washington this year through Saturday, said state Health Department spokesman Tim Church. That's the highest number since 1941.
With that many cases it's almost surprising there hasn't been a death until now.
"It's tragic to have a death," Church said Tuesday. "But with this number of cases it's not unexpected."
There were a total of two pertussis deaths in Washington in 2011 and two in 2010.
Health Secretary Mary Selecky declared this year's outbreak an epidemic April 3 and the number of cases peaked in May at more than 250 a week. Since then the number of new cases declined to about 25 a week in December - still at an epidemic level and about twice what would be considered normal in previous years.
"We're glad to see it's dropping, but it's more than we want to see," Church said.
Whooping cough mostly affects children, and 57 percent of the 2012 cases have been in school-age children, ages 5 to 18, who typically have a chronic cough with the "whooping" sound.
The disease is most severe in infants. Some infants are unable to cough. They may turn bluish and have trouble feeding. Nearly 400 cases have been in children under the age of 1. Of those more than 70 were hospitalized, the Seattle-King County Health Department reported.
The Seattle-King County Health Department withheld details about Thursday's death for the family's privacy, but said it's a reminder that mothers and family members should be immunized to protect babies from pertussis.
There have been 4,658 cases of the disease in Washington this year through Saturday, said state Health Department spokesman Tim Church. That's the highest number since 1941.
With that many cases it's almost surprising there hasn't been a death until now.
"It's tragic to have a death," Church said Tuesday. "But with this number of cases it's not unexpected."
There were a total of two pertussis deaths in Washington in 2011 and two in 2010.
Health Secretary Mary Selecky declared this year's outbreak an epidemic April 3 and the number of cases peaked in May at more than 250 a week. Since then the number of new cases declined to about 25 a week in December - still at an epidemic level and about twice what would be considered normal in previous years.
"We're glad to see it's dropping, but it's more than we want to see," Church said.
Whooping cough mostly affects children, and 57 percent of the 2012 cases have been in school-age children, ages 5 to 18, who typically have a chronic cough with the "whooping" sound.
The disease is most severe in infants. Some infants are unable to cough. They may turn bluish and have trouble feeding. Nearly 400 cases have been in children under the age of 1. Of those more than 70 were hospitalized, the Seattle-King County Health Department reported.
So sad :(Â
If everyone was vaccinated this problem would not occur. Here is a recent recommendation by the CDC for people who will have close contact with young children.Â
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http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6041a4.htm
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It's entirely possible that the entire family was vaccinated. We don't know the details. The current vaccine is NOT EFFECTIVE at preventing the disease. It reduces the symptoms. Most commonly this means that if a vaccinated person gets pertussis, they do not have the "whoop" in their cough and they often just think they have a lingering cold/cough. The best thing that parents can do to protect their newborns from pertussis is to not allow anyone with cold symptoms (or other illnesses) near their infants.  We chose to get the vaccine for our son and our family, but we also educated ourselves about the limitations of the vaccine. If you vaccinate and think you can't get pertussis then you stand a decent chance of becoming a carrier and infecting others without realizing it.Â
 @iampam This information is NOT CORRECT! In a situation this sensitive, it is best not to spill misinformation about virology and leave it to the professionals. While vaccinations have some limitations, if everyone was vaccinated this problem would not occur. Here is a recent  recommendation from the CDC.
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http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6041a4.htm
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Sorry for the parents. This is 100% avoidable if people would get their Tdap shots and boosters. but no got weirdo whack jobs that think that is a bad thing.
 @wynooheeman You should research the effectiveness of the current pertussis vaccine. No vaccine is 100% effective, and the pertussis vaccine actually has a very poor effectiveness at preventing transmission of the disease, it is primarily effective at reducing the symptoms.Â
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The entire family (sans baby) may have been vaccinated. The health department has not released that information, possibly because it doesn't fit with the story they are selling.Â
 @iampam  @wynooheeman The CDC and other health professionals have been begging people to stay up to date on booster. If you are vaccinated and up on all booster, you greatly reduced the incidence of disease and any risk of transmission. Here is some reading for you.Â
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http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6041a4.htm
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How sad for the parents. My heart goes out to them.
Maybe i'm just a jerk but if I end up having a baby any time soon and this whooping cough outbreak is still happening I'm not letting anyone near it who can't prove they got their booster. Â Â
 @quidproquo The best thing you could do to protect your baby is keep them away from anyone with any cold or other sickness symptoms. People up to date on their pertussis vaccine can still get it, the vaccine just reduces their symptoms, which means they could transmit it to the baby without realizing they have it.Â
 @iampam Thats always common sense advice but whooping cough in its unvaccinated form is particularly virulent. It has a more than 80% contact spread rate from unvaccinated to unvaccinated person., which is huge.
I have several people at work that have little kids and didn't even know adults had to be vaccinated! (of course the kids were) Once I told them they went and got all the adults vaccinated. This is very sad about the newborn. Very sad for the new parents also. RIP
Everyone should get a booster even if they don't plan on being around kids. It's one thing we can all do to help out the little ones just beginning their journey. Plus it's needed every 10 years anyway for tetanus.  Â
Sad story, thoughts are with the family.
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 @McLugnut I got my booster a few months ago. Totally worth it, even just for my own health. It doesn't hurt at all and if you have insurance it is probably free.Â
That is so heartbreaking. In this day and age with the vaccine so widely available, there should be no reason for this to have happened. RIP little one.
 @The WA Mama Unfortunately the current vaccine is not very effective at reducing transmission of the disease, it is best for reducing the symptoms. It's entirely possible that the baby's family was vaccinated. Many vaccinated people get a weaker version of pertussis and spread it around because they don't realize they have it.
 @iampam  @The WA Mama This is NOT CORRECT!!!! Vaccines prevent the disease... You could not be more incorrect in your statement.Â
 @GOCOUGS  @iampam  @The WA Mama Vaccines do not alway prevent disease.  The only true way to get immune to a disease is by contracting it and recovering from it.  Nursing mothers produce antibodies to most of the common diseases that we vaccinate for in the early stages.  Bottle fed babies don't get those antibodies, thus a vaccination would be very useful in preventing sickness, however there is no guarantee either way.  Sometimes a nursing mother will get her baby vaccinated and the vaccine won't do any good because her antibodies attack the vaccine.  Making everyone feel as if they are going to die if they don't get vaccinated is a fear factor.  Sadly this baby died but no one knows if it's parents were vaccinated or not.  What if they were?  That would be a very key piece of information if you were going to say that a vaccination would have prevented this death. Â
 @The WA Mama True - but I do not think you can vaccinate a newborn w/DTAP - They have to be 6-9mos I believe....This was contracted either from a relative or the Hospital itself. The parents did nothing wrong. Although I do agree anyone who plans on being around the baby should also be vaccinated....ahead of the Birth.
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Walgreens has Boosters and some Health Depts. will do it for Free if you come down there...
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 @_Monte_  @The WA Mama The parents and everyone around the baby should have had their boosters updated.  No one expects the baby to have the vaccine yet.
@_Monte_ @quidproquo yes it is.
 @quidproquo  @The WA Mama That is pretty much exactly what I said above, No?? ^^^^
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@quidproquo @_Monte_ If I remember correctly, the 1st booster is at 2 months, then 4, then 6 months. Until then the baby is not fully protected -- even more important for all adults to get the vaccine.
My baby and I got whooping cough when he was only 6 weeks old this last august. It was the scariest thing I've ever been through and I'm so grateful he survived. I can't even imagine the pain this family is going through right now. : (
 @ValleyBronco What a scary experience, so glad he made it through OK.Â
@ValleyBronco You should have had your Tdap booster!
Sending Love and Comfort to the Parents - How heartbreaking. Â
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I was very paranoid when I had my newborns (I am NOT saying these people were not)
I didn't pass them around the room, and everyone had to wash hands hands and sanitize before holding the newborns. (10yrs ago)Â
My friend just had a baby, and Tacoma General wouldn't even allow visitors in the Maternity Ward unless you can prove you've had a Pertussis or DTAP Shot/Booster recently
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Baby very well could have caught it in the Hospital it was Born at., seeing as they said it was a newborn.
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Sad.... rest in peace little Angel... :( Â