All parents have received notification letters encouraging them to monitor their child for signs and symptoms and report illness to their medical provider. Close contacts have been told to see their medical provider for preventative antibiotics. The school nurse is monitoring for symptomatic students and communicating findings with the health department.

Local medical providers have also received a medical alert encouraging pertussis surveillance, testing of symptomatic children and reporting to the health department.

Pertussis is an acute bacterial infection of the respiratory tract that is caused by the organism bordatella pertussis. It is transmitted through close contact with an infected person's respiratory droplets. Symptoms may begin with cold-like symptoms that progress to include a cough of at least two weeks duration. The cough is often characterized as being paroxysmal (multiple coughs following each other closely without time for a breath in between), is often followed by a loud inspiration at the end of the cough which sounds like a "whoop" and may be followed by vomiting.

Younger infants may have no breathing episodes with this illness. While older children and adults may have milder illness, pertussis can be serious in infants and the elderly and often results in hospitalization.

Symptoms usually begin 7-10 days after exposure, but can take up to 21 days to appear.

Most people have been immunized against pertussis. Children are routinely immunized with DtaP (Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) vaccine at ages 2, 4, 6, and 12 months and at 4 to 5 years of age. A booster dose of Tdap (the vaccine used for adolescents and adults) is now required for students when they enter sixth grade.

Though health officials say the vaccine is good, it is not 100 percent effective in preventing pertussis and immunity to pertussis decreases as children get older.