Jefferson County, N.Y., Public Health Service officials have been working nights and weekends in the attempt to get their whooping cough outbreak under control, according to Dennis Marshall from the County's Public Health clinic. As of Monday morning on December 6 they have 420 confirmed cases of pertussis in the county.
Marshall described the outbreak as beginning in grade schools in the southern part of the county. It has now spread throughout the county and into all age groups. While the children in grade school should have had their required immunizations, he was quick to point out that the series of five shots can be as little as 85% effective.
The county has assigned extra workers to the Health Department to assist with case investigation, and followup.
Jefferson County is a largely rural county in upstate New York. It is north of Syracuse with Watertown as its largest city. It is home to Fort Drum, headquarters of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and about 18,000 troops. The Census Bureau estimates the county's 2009 population at 118,719.
LTC Douglas Badzik, Chief, Department of Preventive Medicine, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity, Fort Drum, NY, stated in an e-mail that 7 cases of whooping cough had been found in base run child care centers. These were all found by civilian physicians. As of December 1, the Army had not identified any cases of pertussis through its own medical services.
LTC Badzik provided the following statement concerning Fort Drum's reaction to the outbreak:
Any child who has a confirmed diagnosis of pertussis must complete 5 days of antibiotics before returning to day care. Any child or staff with whom these children had contact are contacted by PM. Those who have no symptoms of pertussis are placed on preventive antibiotics prior to returning to day care. Those who have symptoms are tested for pertussis and placed on 5 days of antibiotics prior to returning to work or day care.
The day care centers are providing parents with educational flyers on pertussis. Any child who has not been vaccinated for pertussis cannot attend the day care centers during this outbreak. All health care workers and child care workers on Fort Drum are being offered an pertussis booster if they have not had one as an adult. Fort Drum PM is in contact with JCPHS multiple times per day to ensure that a unified effort in bring a resolution to the outbreak and that the population is
protected.
The Jefferson county pertussis outbreak remains among the most severe in the nation, with an incidence of 354 cases per 100,000 population. California, where whooping cough has been declared epidemic, has a statewide rate of 18.7 cases per 100,000. Only four California counties have a case count that exceeds Jefferson County's.
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