Cases of whooping cough on the rise in Fairfax County

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Cases of whooping cough are on the rise in Fairfax County.

So far this year, Fairfax County has reported 44 cases of whooping cough with the majority of those seen in school-aged children between 5 and 17 years old.

That might not seem like a lot in a county with more than a million people, but health officials said it's the highest number of cases they've had in a single year in a decade — four times as many as years past.

Alex Seifert is an epidemiologist with the Fairfax County Health Department.

"We believe that pertussis is generally undertested and underreported, so what we're seeing is a representation of people who have gone to a healthcare provideR, there might be a lot more cases effecting different people that we wouldn't know about because they're not being tested," Seifert explained.

She added that whooping cough, or pertussis, is a cyclical disease in which they see a spike every three to five years and this is a current peak.

It is a respiratory illness and starts with common cold symptoms like runny nose, cough, mild fever and then a week or two after that, you may start getting coughing fits.

And unlike a common cold, the cough can last for weeks or even months.

"There can be vomiting during or after coughing fits, difficulty breathing, sometimes difficulty sleeping. Some individuals may be coughing so hard they might break a rib," Seifert explained.

Whooping cough is very contagious, spread person to person through those droplets when you cough, sneeze, talk closely.

It can be treated with antibiotics, but those have to start within the first few weeks of symptoms to be effective.

The TDAP and DTAP vaccines both protect against pertussis.

DTAP is for younger kids, TDAP is for preteens, teens or adults who never received it.

And adults should be getting a booster shot every ten years or so to make sure you are protected. Women are also given a booster during each pregnancy.

The 44 cases that have been reported range in age from babies a few weeks old to adults in their 60s - but health leaders they think there are a lot more instances out there, which is why they want people know the symptoms and get tested.

One in three infants with whooping cough needs to be hospitalized, so it is serious especially for babies.