The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
http://nypost.com/2015/10/19/whooping-cough-cases-spike-in-orthodox-jewish-neighborhoods/
Whooping cough cases spike in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods
By Carl Campanile
October 19, 2015 | 3:01pm
A vial of the whooping cough vaccine Boostrix
Photo: Getty
A wave of whooping cough has hit the Orthodox Jewish Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Borough Park, city health officials said Monday.
A total of 109 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, were reported over the past year in the three neighborhoods, with an increase in cases over the past four months, the Health Department said.
Five infants were hospitalized and one came down with pneumonia.
Most years, there are 200 cases of whooping cough reported in the entire city.
Toddlers and infants make up the majority of cases. About half were not vaccinated at all or didn’t get the full set of shots, authorities said in an alert to medical providers.
Only 3 percent of the 37 mothers of infants with whooping cough received the recommended tetanus-diptheria-acellularr pertussis vaccination during pregnancy, the alert said.
Health officials are urging doctors to recall patients who are not up to date with vaccines so they can provide prompt antibiotic treatment to affected patients.
“Delays in on-time initiation and completion of the pertussis-containing vaccines series remain problematic in the affected communities, facilitating ongoing transmission,” said Jennifer Rosen, director of the Health Department’s Bureau of Immunization Surveillance.
Children receiving treatment must stay home and not attend school or day care until they have received at least five days of antibiotics.
Family members of patients should also receive antibiotics to prevent spreading the contagious respiratory disease.
Whooping cough cases spike in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods
By Carl Campanile
October 19, 2015 | 3:01pm
A vial of the whooping cough vaccine Boostrix
Photo: Getty
A wave of whooping cough has hit the Orthodox Jewish Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Borough Park, city health officials said Monday.
A total of 109 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, were reported over the past year in the three neighborhoods, with an increase in cases over the past four months, the Health Department said.
Five infants were hospitalized and one came down with pneumonia.
Most years, there are 200 cases of whooping cough reported in the entire city.
Toddlers and infants make up the majority of cases. About half were not vaccinated at all or didn’t get the full set of shots, authorities said in an alert to medical providers.
Only 3 percent of the 37 mothers of infants with whooping cough received the recommended tetanus-diptheria-acellularr pertussis vaccination during pregnancy, the alert said.
Health officials are urging doctors to recall patients who are not up to date with vaccines so they can provide prompt antibiotic treatment to affected patients.
“Delays in on-time initiation and completion of the pertussis-containing vaccines series remain problematic in the affected communities, facilitating ongoing transmission,” said Jennifer Rosen, director of the Health Department’s Bureau of Immunization Surveillance.
Children receiving treatment must stay home and not attend school or day care until they have received at least five days of antibiotics.
Family members of patients should also receive antibiotics to prevent spreading the contagious respiratory disease.