This school year, with two cases of whooping cough and one case of chicken pox reported, Ms. Nickey Welsh, a nurse at West Po, is concerned about these sudden cases.
“We have had two positive cases of pertussis [and] there has been one case of chickenpox,” Ms. Welsh said. “Here’s the kicker, every single one of our patients who have had pertussis and chickenpox were vaccinated.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, pertussis, otherwise known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection and, in many, will cause a hacking cough followed by a “whoop” sound. It is considered a childhood disease and a vaccine has been developed, usually administered over five shots from 2 months of age up until 4-6 years of age.
According to the Mayo Clinic, chickenpox is a viral disease that causes bumps called papules, fluid filled blisters called vesicles, fever and headaches. The vaccine for chickenpox should usually protect people from getting infected and those that have been infected before usually gain immunity.
According to the CDC, there were 113 cases of whooping cough reported in Virginia in 2023 and although it may seem pretty low, there were 65 cases in 2022 in Virginia.
There are many ways to protect yourself from whooping cough or pertussis, but Ms. Welsh has a few to especially keep in mind.
“Vaping and smoking are some of the worst things you can do as it can put your lungs at risk [for these diseases],” Ms. Welsh said. “[For people at risk, you should be] keeping up with your vaccinations, but everyone should be immunized for pertussis.”
Some other vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, have been on the rise throughout the United States, and West Virginia recently had its first confirmed case of measles in 15 years, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
Vaping and smoking are some of the worst things you can do as it can put your lungs at risk [for these diseases], For people at risk, you should be] keeping up with your vaccinations, but everyone should be immunized for pertussis.
— Ms. Welsh
According to the CDC, there have been 132 cases of measles since the start of 2024 in the United States, already far ahead of 2023 with 58 cases. There are now several pockets of undervaccinated populations in the U.S. Most of the cases of measles this year have been in children below five with 58 cases and 30 cases of people between the ages of 5 and 19.
Kattie Diaz-Rodriguez and Ajzmina Shrestha are freshmen and they believe that people aren’t educated enough on measles. “Most people don’t know what it is so they wouldn’t really pay attention [to a measles outbreak],” Kattie said.
According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, “Measles is highly contagious–much more so than COVID 19. It is so contagious that if one person has measles, up to 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will become infected.”
“I feel like more people should get vaccinated and get educated on it.” Ajzmina said.
If you want to learn more about these diseases, go to the CDC’s website.