Whooping cough outbreak in Brookline, 19 cases reported

Local news

Officials said students at both Brookline High School and Runkle Elementary School became ill.

Cases of whooping cough include: Whooping coughLast month, the disease spread across the city of Brookline, resulting in 19 cases townwide.

In a joint statement, Public Health and Human Services Commissioner Sigal Rice and Police Superintendent Linus Guillory Jr. said the risk to the public remains low. statement last week.

Officials said the first case was reported at Brookline High School on June 5. The other case was reported at Runkle Elementary School. Students' families have been notified and school staff have been instructed on how to prevent further infection.

Officials said there were 15 confirmed cases as of last Thursday. Reis said Tuesday that there are now 19 confirmed cases across the city of Brookline, most of them in people around their senior year of high school.

The last day of school for Brookline students was June 17th.

“While we feel the public health risk is low at this time, as we move toward the end of the school year we believe it is important to provide our community with an update on the situation and the steps they can take to avoid contracting whooping cough and other diseases,” Rice said in a statement.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that spreads easily from person to person through droplets from the nose, mouth, and throat. Droplets are spread when coughing, talking, or sneezing. Symptoms are usually mild in older children and adults, but can be severe in young children and infants.

Earlier this year, authorities reported that there had been a number of whooping cough cases It is becoming popular nationwideBy late May, the number of cases reported was nearly three times the number reported during the same period in 2023.

Symptoms usually appear 7 to 10 days after infection, but can take up to 3 weeks. Early symptoms are very similar to those of a cold, but the coughing fits become more frequent and can last up to 10 weeks. According to the CDC, the coughing fits can lead to vomiting, broken ribs, trouble sleeping, difficulty breathing, and fatigue.

Many infants with whooping cough never actually cough, and the illness looks much more like a common cold. Infants may experience life-threatening breathing arrests and turn blue.

Brookline officials stressed the importance of vaccinations. The vaccine for children under 7 is called DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough), while the vaccine for children over 7, adolescents and adults is called Tdap. The latter is required for all students entering seventh grade in Massachusetts, and is recommended for adults every 10 years. Officials said anyone who spends time around infants and young children should be vaccinated.

“While vaccination is the best prevention against diseases like whooping cough, it is not an absolute prevention method. At Brookline High School, 99 percent of the senior student body has been vaccinated against whooping cough,” officials said.

A person with whooping cough can be contagious from one week before the cough begins up to three weeks after the cough begins or until they have completed a five-day course of antibiotics.

“If you have symptoms and suspect you may have an infection, it's really important that you get a course of antibiotics, which will significantly reduce the infectious period during which you can spread the infection,” Rice said Tuesday.

Anyone who may have been exposed to whooping cough should contact their doctor and get tested. High-risk individuals (people with weakened immune systems, women in the later stages of pregnancy, and infants) or those living with such individuals should request prophylactic antibiotics.

If you have any questions about the situation in Brookline, please contact Public Health Nurse Elizabeth Bennett at 617-730-2320.