Tag: vaccinations

Just got this email.  I have removed the specific sender / facility since that does not seem needed for my purposes here.  I have replaced the name of the site with “Our Facility”. Anyway – thought some people would be interested in the things that can happen when too many people in your community do not vaccinate their kids.

From: Office Administration 

Subject: Possible Exposure to Whooping Cough – Pertussis

Date: June 25, 2014 at 12:55:59 PM PDT

To: Office Administration 

Dear Parent or Guardian,

Our Facility was informed this morning that a student who has been attending a class since 6/16/14 has been diagnosed with pertussis (whooping cough). The child is no longer attending the class and is under a medical care.

If you feel you or your child may have been exposed, watch carefully for symptoms in the next 1-2 weeks, and consult a physician if any occur. Here is some pertinent information regarding pertussis (whooping cough):

Pertussis can spread through the air when people cough. It often starts like a common cold which gets worse and worse over 1-2 weeks. People with pertussis have coughing spells that may last several seconds. As they catch their breath at the end of each coughing spell, they may gasp loudly (“whoop”) and vomit or choke.

The vaccine usually protects against pertussis, but sometimes even immunized children can get pertussis. Pertussis is treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics can also prevent the spread of pertussis to others.

Activities that may help stop the spread of pertussis include:

• The exclusion of all pertussis cases from classes until they have taken the first five days of the antibiotic.
• The administration of antibiotics for babies, pregnant women and other high risk contacts of pertussis cases as well as consideration of antibiotic administration for other household or close contacts to prevent the further spread of pertussis.
• The administration of another dose of DTaP vaccine to babies and Tdap for older children who are not up to date on their vaccine series.

Please know that Our Facility is taking every precaution in this matter and let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Office Staff