Editorials

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 300 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Monday, July 14, 2008 Little League decision tough but healthy call A lot of Whidbey Island boys didn't get to play baseball this weekend, but at least they didn't contract whooping cough. National Little League prohibited four south island teams from tournaments after a local health official raised concerns over a breakout of pertussis, better known as whooping cough. By Friday, Island County doctors counted at least 27 cases. That number is expected to grow and most cases are south Whidbey children. Dr. Roger Case, the health officer who brought the issue to the national organization, knew to err on the side of caution. He wasn't crying wolf. Whooping cough is highly contagious, especially risky for infants and the elderly. The disease starts out with cold-like symptoms and causes several weeks of severe coughing, which sometimes induces vomiting. Not a fun way to spend the rest of summer. Pertussis vaccinations are available for children and adults. People ages 11 to 64 should get the shot every 10 years and children should get the shots as part of their regular vaccinations, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Case recommends those without shots avoid public gatherings, such as sporting events and ferry rides, on Whidbey Island. At least until the outbreak winds down. Sage advice from the public health department. For those young baseball players who had big wins just within reach, total bummer. Tournaments are the season's pinnacle and this weekend was a sad sacrifice after much hard work. Coaches who spent weeks perfecting pitches and parents who chased after lucky socks likely suffered quite a letdown. And no one lost out as much as the big guys who would have been out on the ball field. Yet health and sporting officials made the right, tough call. They even went as far as to offer to screen one team individually for play, but the test results would have come too late to matter much. This weekend, public safety concerns simply outweighed the emotions involved. Canceling the post-season games was the right thing to do. To do otherwise would have been grossly unfair to every child who contracted whooping cough at the tournament. If it's any consolation, the Whidbey News Times reports that some rescheduling negotiations are in progress. Perhaps some post-post-season games will ease the burn. Rescheduling games is no easy task, but neither is caring for sick kids. It must have been a difficult decision. Whidbey Island residents might do well to follow Case's advice until whooping cough blows over.

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