Whooping cough spreads to Rocky Mountain High School

A student at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian is the latest victim of a pertussis outbreak in Ada County.

Twenty five teens and adults in Ada and Elmore counties have been diagnosed with the disease since the outbreak began in September.

Most victims of the outbreak of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, have been high school students. No afflicted teens or adults were hospitalized.

Two babies who fell ill in Canyon County were hospitalized, but recovered.

They are not counted in the outbreak numbers compiled by the Central District Health Department. Canyon County is part of a different health district.

The number of central district cases is 14 in Ada County, says Dave Fotsch, spokesman for the Central District Health Department in Boise. That's 11 students at Eagle High school, two adults with no ties to the school and one student at Rocky Mountain, in Meridian.

In neighboring Elmore County, the whooping cough caseload remains steady at 11 cases, most of them tied to Mountain Home High School.

The cases of the sick babies in Canyon County did not grow into a significant outbreak, according to Laurie Boston, spokeswoman for the Southwest District Health. "We've been very fortunate this year," Boston said.

Health officials urge everyone ages 11 to 64 to get immunized against pertussis. Adults may need immunizations because sometimes immunity from childhood shots does not last into adulthood.

Pertussis is a very contagious respiratory disease spread through the air from an infected person who is coughing, sneezing or even talking. Adults may spread the disease without knowing it. They may suffer a bad, persistent cough, but never think of pertussis. The disease can be serious, even fatal, to very young babies.

The health department says it has sent notices to health care providers to look for patients with symptoms and to check the immunization status of adults. Kids can get the shot at a reduced price, often less than $20, but adults may pay $60 or more.

In a breakout of more than 600 cases in the late 1990s, an infant died of pertussis in North Idaho.