Kamiak athletes catch whooping cough at tournament
Published 11:05 pm Friday, March 13, 2009
MUKILTEO — Health officials met with coaches and members of Kamiak High School’s wrestling team Friday after preliminary tests showed four wrestlers had been infected with whooping cough.
The students were likely exposed to the disease at a statewide wrestling competition in Tacoma last month, attended by five members of the high school’s wrestling team.
Overall 1,180 students from across Washington participated in the event, which also drew an estimated 30,000 spectators.
Health officials later discovered that 15 people who attended the event had whooping cough. Those infected included a combination of wrestlers, coaches and spectators from Kittitas and Pacific counties, said Donn Moyer, a spokesman for the state Department of Health.
It wasn’t until late this week, however, that Snohomish Health District officials were alerted that four people who participated in the event may have been infected.
“We’re very concerned when you have a large public event like this that there’s a possibility for more cases to result,” Moyer said.
After the four likely cases at Kamiak were discovered, Snohomish Health District employees met with all 48 Kamiak wrestlers and the team’s five coaches Friday, said Tim McDonald, who oversees communicable disease issues for the Health District. They were advised to go to a medical clinic to be tested and, if necessary, treated for whooping cough.
Whooping cough’s symptoms are similar to those of a cold, including sneezing, runny nose, a low fever and mild cough. The cough can become severe within two weeks and sometimes include a high-pitched whoop.
The bacterial disease, which is highly contagious, can easily be spread though coughing and sneezing.
People can become ill up to 21 days after they were exposed to the infection.
It can cause illness in children, adults and pregnant women. The disease can be especially serious for infants 12 months of age or younger.
On average, 600 people are diagnosed with the disease each year in Washington, but in some years, as many as 1,000 have been infected, Moyer said.
Generally people have to be within 3 feet of someone who is coughing to become infected, “which is why we consider family members to be at highest risk,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Health District.
Close contacts of someone who is infected with whooping cough may need to be treated with antibiotics to prevent them from getting sick, he said.
A letter from Goldbaum urging parents to keep students out of school if they have symptoms of whooping cough was posted on the Kamiak High School Web site Friday morning.
The school’s 2,100 students watched a short video outlining the symptoms of the disease Friday morning, said Andy Muntz, a spokesman for the Mukilteo School District. Copies of the Health District’s letter were sent home to parents.
Dr. Jack Stephens, an Everett Clinic pediatrician who clinic is close to Kamiak High School, said doctors have been fielding a steady stream of phone calls about the disease.
“It does require appropriate intervention, but not panic,” he said.
Protection against whooping cough, or pertussis, is included in the DTaP vaccine, which also protects against diphtheria and tetanus. Health officials recommend that children should be immunized with five doses of the vaccine by the time they are 6 years old.
“We pediatricians feel strongly about immunizing children,” Stephens said. “Once the disease has happened and is out in the community, we are strained to be able to contain it.
“It’s much better to prevent it than to treat it,” Stephens added.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, salyer@heraldnet.com.
