A five-week-old baby's life was taken after suffering from whooping cough or pertussis in San Diego. This is said to be the 164th case of the same disease in the area.
The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency confirmed the news earlier this week saying that the infant died last Friday. This is the second death resulting from the illness in California this year but the first in San Diego since the year 2010.
There have been 164 cases of pertussis in San Diego. It has lessened this year as compared to the 621 confirmed cases during the same period of last year. For the whole of 2015, there were 892 cases of pertussis in San Diego. In the year 2014, pertussis has become an epidemic as there were 2,105 cases recorded in San Diego. Accordingly, Pertussis is recurring and the numbers reach the highest every three to five years, FOX News reported.
Dr. Wilma Wooten, the public health officer in San Diego, said that infants are at risk the most of hospitalization and death from pertussis. She noted that despite the numbers lowering for this year, the tragic death of the five-week old baby "reminds us how important it is that everyone takes steps to prevent pertussis, including getting vaccinated."
It is being advised that people coming into close contact with infants should be vaccinated since newborns are very susceptible to whooping cough since they are not yet fully vaccinated. Pregnant women are also advised to get vaccinated on their third trimester in order to protect their unborn babies. It is also recommended that a child entering the seventh grade should get a booster shot.
Some of the symptoms of pertussis include coughing and suffering from runny nose for one to two weeks. The coughing could persist for more weeks or even months. Fever could also be present.
