Whooping Cough Strikes Kentucky Elementary School

October 7, 2008 7:48 a.m. EST

Shepherdsville, KY (AHN) - Highly contagious whooping cough has struck several students at a Kentucky elementary school.

There have been five confirmed cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, so far this week at Freedom Elementary School in Shepherdsville. Bullitt County public health officials say that between vaccines and antibiotics that the chance of the disease becoming fatal has been lessened.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that affects the respiratory passages. It used to cause up to 30,000 deaths per year before the vaccine was created. But children who are not vaccinated are still at risk of dying from the disease.

Symptoms are coughing, a runny nose and achiness, the cough worsens as the disease progresses.

Centers for Disease Control officials say the disease is on the rise again, with children younger than 1-year-old at the greatest risk because they haven't been vaccinated yet. But the disease is highly contagious and easily spread so health officials urge families to make sure that everyone in an affected family seek medical care.