2008 Woodie Awards
Whooping cough case reported at PC
Jennifer Jarvis
Issue date: 9/28/06 Section: News
Just when the buzz from one contagious disease dies down, another is upon its heels. The Student Health Center was notified this week that a faculty member at the College has been diagnosed with pertussis, or whooping cough.
According to an e-mail from the health center on the topic, whooping cough is an infection of the respiratory system, characterized by a severe cough that results in a "hoop" sound when the person inhales. It is communicated through respiratory discharges from sneezing, coughing, and laughing.
A separate e-mail, sent out to students and other close contacts of the faculty member stressed that "There is no need for alarm." Whooping cough is not life-threatening to the college age group.
"The most concerning part" for college students is "you're sick for a long time," said Cathrine M. Kelleher, RN, director of student health. "It disrupts your studies."
Pertussis starts off with symptoms like those of the common cold, but it becomes worse after one to two weeks. The cough becomes nagging and develops into coughing spells, sometimes to the point of vomiting. Sometimes symptoms can take as many as 21 days to appear after becoming infected.
When notified by the faculty member of the pertussis case, Kelleher alerted the administration and the Rhode Island Department of Health. She said that she is required to report certain diseases to the health department when she becomes aware of a case. Pertussis is one disease on the list, which Kelleher says is mandated to be reported probably because it is so contagious, "though it's not typically one that affects this age group," she said.
The vaccination for pertussis is given in installments and is generally given to a child at two months, again at four and six months, and again at 15 to 18 months, Kelleher said. A booster shot is given between four and six years old. The disease is most dangerous to babies under one year and any other children who haven't had the full vaccine yet. Because children under one year old have not had the entire vaccine, contracting whooping cough at this age can be fatal.
According to an e-mail from the health center on the topic, whooping cough is an infection of the respiratory system, characterized by a severe cough that results in a "hoop" sound when the person inhales. It is communicated through respiratory discharges from sneezing, coughing, and laughing.
A separate e-mail, sent out to students and other close contacts of the faculty member stressed that "There is no need for alarm." Whooping cough is not life-threatening to the college age group.
"The most concerning part" for college students is "you're sick for a long time," said Cathrine M. Kelleher, RN, director of student health. "It disrupts your studies."
Pertussis starts off with symptoms like those of the common cold, but it becomes worse after one to two weeks. The cough becomes nagging and develops into coughing spells, sometimes to the point of vomiting. Sometimes symptoms can take as many as 21 days to appear after becoming infected.
When notified by the faculty member of the pertussis case, Kelleher alerted the administration and the Rhode Island Department of Health. She said that she is required to report certain diseases to the health department when she becomes aware of a case. Pertussis is one disease on the list, which Kelleher says is mandated to be reported probably because it is so contagious, "though it's not typically one that affects this age group," she said.
The vaccination for pertussis is given in installments and is generally given to a child at two months, again at four and six months, and again at 15 to 18 months, Kelleher said. A booster shot is given between four and six years old. The disease is most dangerous to babies under one year and any other children who haven't had the full vaccine yet. Because children under one year old have not had the entire vaccine, contracting whooping cough at this age can be fatal.