Suffolk issues alert on whooping cough

The number of pertussis -- or whooping cough -- cases recorded in Suffolk County so far this year has more than tripled compared with last year, leading public health authorities to issue an alert for doctors to be on the lookout for the condition.

"In order to contain the spread of infection, we ask health care providers to consider pertussis as a possible diagnosis when patients present with cold-like symptoms and a dry cough," Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. James L. Tomarken said in a statement.

"Early detection and appropriate antibiotic treatment is the key to minimizing symptoms and containing the spread of the infection," Tomarken said.

The county has reported 179 pertussis cases to the New York State Department of Health so far this year, compared with 54 cases in 2010 and 75 cases in 2009. Nationwide, 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported in 2010, up from 16,858 cases in 2009.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Monday linked the higher number of cases to a variety of factors that range from the vaccine's effectiveness to parents shunning vaccinations. Like many vaccines, the pertussis shot, which has different formulations for children and adults, does not provide 100 percent protection and tends to wane in some people within three years.

Some parents have also avoided vaccines altogether, fearing autism and other neurological disorders. The result is a larger vulnerable population.

The last time Suffolk pertussis cases rose past the 100 mark in one year was in 2006.

A similar upsurge has not been recorded to date in Nassau County, health department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain said Monday. The number of Suffolk cases includes a student who attended Chaminade High School in Mineola but who lived in Suffolk.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial infection that has plagued communities for centuries. The first vaccine was developed in the 1930s.

The condition is typified by a barking cough -- the whoop -- that when untreated can be so violent sufferers are unable to catch a breath. In the days before antibiotic therapy, some children cracked a rib during violent coughing spells that, in many cases, proved fatal.

The pertussis bacterium produces a toxin, doctors say, that accelerates the formation of thick mucus in the lungs that in turn drives the uncontrollable urge to cough. "It's sometimes called the 100-day cough," said Dr. Dennis Russo of Suffolk's department of health.

Dr. Lara Misegades, an epidemiologist at the CDC who specializes in the study of pertussis, said the condition tends to wax and wane in three- to five-year cycles, and that no two states experience upticks at the same time. Russo said it is impossible right now to tell whether Suffolk is in the midst of an episodic cycle.

Last year, a major pertussis epidemic gripped California, affecting 9,000 people.