Lincoln County Health & Human Services is seeing an increased number of confirmed pertussis (Whooping Cough) cases spanning across Lincoln County. Pertussis is a highly infectious disease that passes from person to person via direct contact and from an infectious person coughing and sneezing.
Pertussis can be life threatening to babies. It is important to know that within the first 6 months of life, some babies exposed to pertussis may not cough at all; instead they stop breathing and turn blue. Complications that can happen from pertussis infection for babies are hospitalization, pneumonia, brain damage and death. Adolescents and adults who contract pertussis often will have a violent-persistent cough that lasts for months and may have complications.
People who are infected with pertussis are the most infectious one week before any symptoms occur and for two weeks after the cough begins. The bacteria that causes pertussis can remain on surfaces for 2 – 3 days after an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes.
You can receive vaccinations for pertussis and other diseases from your Primary Care Provider, Pharmacies or Lincoln County Public Health. Lincoln County Health & Human
Services provides vaccines at these locations:
Lincoln Community Health Center Newport: 1010 SW Coast Hwy Suite 203, Newport OR 541-265-4947 Lincoln City: 4422 NE Devil’s Lake Road Suite 2, Lincoln City, OR 541-265-4947
Lincoln County Public Health Nye Clinic: 36 SW Nye St., Newport OR 541-265-0587
Vaccines to prevent pertussis work! Before pertussis vaccines became widely available in the 1940s, about 200,000 children got sick with it each year in the United States and about 9,000 died as a result of the infection. Children and adolescents are required to have immunizations for school attendance, so outbreaks of disease do not happen in our schools and childcare facilities. People over 11 need a booster after 10 years. Contact your medical provider if you think you need a booster.