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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCalifornia declares whooping cough epidemic
(CNN) -- California is being hit hard with a whooping cough epidemic, according to the state's public health department, with 800 cases reported in the past two weeks alone.
The agency says that there were 3,458 whooping cough cases reported between January 1 and June 10, well ahead of the number of cases reported for all of 2013.
This is a problem of "epidemic proportions," the department said. And the number of actual cases may be even higher, because past studies have shown that for every case of whooping cough that is reported, there are 10 more that are not officially counted.
Whooping cough, known to doctors as pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory infection that is caused by a bacterium known as Bordetella pertussis.
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/13/health/whooping-cough-california/
Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)packman
(16,296 posts)a few months back. Nothing to ignore. If you can get a shot for it, do it. However, if I understood my doctor, the shot won't really prevent it but will mitigate its effects and lessen its stay. Well worth it.
egduj
(805 posts)Very unpleasant and something I wish not to experience again.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)shots. California has illegal immigrants who are probably afraid of being reported if they get the shots and also of course there are others who just refuse to get any kind of vaccine. They need to set up programs that insure that all people can come in to be vaccinated.
When I was in grade school our school nurse often had sessions (polio shots) for all students to be given their shots at the school. If I am not mistaken those shots were free. It was understood that it was better to be protected at the cost to the taxpayer than to end up with an epidemic. We especially understood that during the polio epidemic since it hit school age children much of the time and the consequences were dire.