Oregon Public Broadcasting

Health officials in Jackson County say the number of cases of Whooping Cough almost doubled since last year.

The disease may have spread from California, where health officials have already declared a Whooping Cough epidemic.

Pertussis, or whooping cough as it’s commonly known, is a bacterial infection with a distinctive sound.

Dr. Richard Lehman is a medical epidemiologist with Oregon’s Public Health Division.  He says whooping cough seems like a cold until a week or so, when the hallmark symptoms appear.

Dr. Richard Lehman: “If a child is having trouble with a bunch of spasms of cough like a while episode of coughing that just goes on and then (sound of inhalation) they have to take a deep breath like that, then that’s the classic whoop.”

Lehman says, while unpleasant the Whooping Cough is usually mild in adults and children.  It’s a different story, however, for infants under the age of 1, when the disease can be potentially fatal.

Health officials say 80 percent of kids who get the disease, get it from a family member.

That’s why adults and healthcare workers in regular contact with infants should get vaccinated or get a booster shot.