| Brookings Cracks Down on Whooping Cough |
| Kent Erdahl KSFY |
| 4/5/2006 |
| Since Brookings` Mickelson Middle School was hit with five cases of whooping cough recently, the local clinic became Tuesday`s after school hangout. "A couple of my friends said that they had to come down," 12 year-old Megan Selleck said. "They weren`t very happy about about it either." Although she says her mother made her go and that she hates needles, Megan says she knows she doesn`t want to mess around with the alternative. "I have something on my voice box that makes me cough a lot," Megan said. "And if I got whooping cough it would probably make it a lot worse." "It`s not a fun disease," Dr. Richard Hieb said. "I`ve had it as a child, and you cough quite a bit, and it`s not happy. And the cough usually lasts about six to eight weeks." Instead of weeks of agony from a persistent cough, several kids, or at least their parents, opted for a quick shot. Although most of Tuesday`s patients received immunizations as young children, the new cases pose a threat, especially to 11 and 12 year-olds. "The shots that the kids get when they`re about five years old are just wearing off and they`re becoming susceptible again," Dr. Hieb said. Although the focus is on middle school students, the benefits of Tuesday`s vaccination went beyond the ones sitting in the chair. Sara Bittiker and other nursing students from SDSU were administering the shots as part of clinical training. "You always learn something new," Bittiker said. "You know, something new to ask or something new to tell them. A new way to talk to kids." Between the education and the prevention everyone says the vaccination was more helpful than harmful. "I haven`t made anybody cry yet so that`s good," Bittiker said. The booster shots are available to people up to 64 years of age, but Dr. Hieb says at this point they`re are not concerned about a massive outbreak. According to Dr. Hieb, the whooping cough booster has recently been added to regular tetanus shots. |
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