Brookline’s whooping cough outbreak is the largest in the state this year, with 17 cases among students as of Sunday, state officials said.
All the cases occurred among students at Brookline High School with the exception of one positive case at the Runkle elementary school.
Brookline health officials asked the public to report symptoms to community health officials, noting that the infection could spread to young children.
“With traveling over the summer, visiting family, there’s a higher chance that the pocket might expand to those really at high risk, which is those young children,” said Sigalle Reiss, Director of Brookline Public Health and Human Services.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a bacterial infection that causes inflammation of the airways, putting babies and young children at the greatest risk because their airways are smaller.
In the decade ending in 2020, as many as 20 babies a year died from the infection in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reiss said preliminary discussions about reaching out to area summer camps as a precaution are underway.
Brookline officials identified the first positive student on June 5 at Brookline High School, just weeks before the end of the school year. The infection appeared to have spread among members of a sports team, she said.
At that time, Brookline school officials, in coordination with the local health officials, notified all families.
Whooping cough can spread from person to person through contact with airborne droplets from coughing or sneezing from an infected person.
Pertussis progresses in three phases, starting with cold-like symptoms like runny nose, sneezing, and cough that last for one to two weeks and slowly worsen, followed by strong, uncontrolled coughing spells that can be accompanied by a “whooping” noise during inhalation. Symptoms can last 6 to ten weeks and are typically treated with antibiotics prescribed by a doctor.
The first symptoms appear about 7 to 10 days after a person is exposed. People with whooping cough are contagious one week before until three weeks after the cough starts or until completion of five days of antibiotic treatment.
Pertussis vaccination is required for all Massachusetts students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Brookline school officials said the high school currently has a 99% vaccination rate, with only a small handful of medical and religious exemptions.
Studies have shown that immunity to the pertussis vaccine can decrease over time. Vaccination is recommended for adults every ten years.
“Be up-to-date on vaccines. That’s the best way to stop and, slow the spread of really any outbreak,” Reiss said.
The town of Bedford and communities in Norfolk county have also reported pertussis cases this year. There have been 157 cases in Massachusetts so far this year.
