Alaska is seeing a sharp rise in cases, particularly among children. So far, one infant death has been reported.
Whooping cough has also reached the Lower Kenai Peninsula. South Peninsula Hospital’s spokesperson Derotha Ferraro said the hospital has had seven cases since July.
Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory disease mainly spread through coughing or sneezing. It can affect people of all ages but is especially dangerous for infants under a year old. According to the Alaska Department of Health, 12% of cases in Alaska this year have been reported among infants, with 24% of those infants requiring hospitalization.
Lorne Carroll, a Homer-based public health nurse with the Department of Health, said two vaccines help prevent the spread of pertussis. One is for infants and children over 2 months old, and another for those 7 years and older. He said DTaP, the pertussis vaccine for children under 7, also protects them against diphtheria and tetanus. Older children and adults can get a similar vaccine called TDaP.
“That prevents about 78% of pertussis cases in infants younger than two months old,” Carroll said. “When pregnant women get it in the third trimester of pregnancy, it also prevents about 90% of hospitalizations in infants younger than two months old.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting the vaccine during each pregnancy to protect newborns.
Students enrolled in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District are required to receive vaccinations for multiple diseases, including pertussis.
Carroll also said pertussis outbreaks tend to spike every three to five years due to waning immunity. He said just within the month of September, the state had far surpassed the last spike in cases in 2016.
“If we look backward at years of pertussis reported in Alaska, in 2016, we had a pretty sizable outbreak in the state, but especially in the southern Kenai Peninsula,” Carroll said.
He said many cases go unreported, estimating that for every reported case, there may be as many as ten more. In 2016, Alaska had 149 cases, with 61 of those on the Southern Kenai Peninsula. In years since, reported case numbers have been below 100 statewide. However, confirmed and probable cases in Alaska have reached 347 this year.
Carroll said pertussis symptoms include an unusual cough.
“And if you've never heard it, but then you're around someone that does have this whooping cough, it's very distinct, and you can kind of catch it because it's so unique,” Carroll said.
Along with pertussis, Carroll said COVID-19, flu, and RSV continue to circulate across the state.
For more information on pertussis and other respiratory illnesses, visit the Alaska Department of Health website.
Vaccines are available on the southern Kenai Peninsula at multiple locations, including Homer Medical Clinic, Kachemak Medical Group, NTC Community Clinic, SVT, Homer Public Health Center, Safeway and Chugachmiut clinics.