SPRINGBORO, Ohio (WDTN) – Three more students have taken ill with pertussis, or whooping cough, at Springboro High School. Dr. Nancy Pook with Kettering Health Network joined 2 NEWS with the signs and symptoms of the infection.
“It’s highly contagious and the incubation period is anywhere from seven days to three weeks,” she said.
Dr. Pook encourages people to get their DTap vaccine and keep it up to date (every 10 years), but admits that it’s not a failsafe against the respiratory infection.
“The problem is it doesn’t eliminate all. The vaccines wane off and maybe the Bordetella is evolving or mutating a little bit, we’re not sure 100 percent of the reason why that there’s more pertussis. But it’s still present worldwide.”
Symptoms of whooping cough initially resemble those of the common cold. Up to three weeks later, the cough starts.
If it reaches a point where you lay down at night and can’t sleep because of the cough, consider getting tested and treated.
