Latest whooping cough case is in E. Hampton

A case of whooping cough at East Hampton Middle School brings to 156 the number of cases confirmed so far this year in Suffolk County, according to a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.

Parents and staff were informed of the case through email and a letter dated March 29 that is posted on the East Hampton Union Free School District web site. Calls to Richard Burns, interim school superintendent, were not returned Tuesday.

"Suffolk County continues to see an increase" in whooping cough, the respiratory disease also known as pertussis, according to the letter from the Division of Public Health.

The letter goes on to outline symptoms of the "highly contagious bacterial respiratory illness," which can start out with a slight cough and possible low-grade fever.

The updated number of last year's cases in the county is 327, with 316 of them occurring since June when the outbreak is considered to have started, said Suffolk health department spokeswoman Grace Kelly-McGovern.

In Nassau County 32 cases of whooping cough were confirmed from this Jan. 1 to March 31, said a spokeswoman for the Nassau County Department of Health. Nassau had 71 cases in 2011, she said.