yikes, whooping cough at the kid's school, your thoughts

My children's vaccinations are current but there are several cases of whooping cough at their school. How concerned should I be??? It is not not in their class room, but I am worried. I spoke to their doctor, but I was wondering what you all think. I so don't want them to get this, especially at Christmas.

Thank you!

Um, if they are UTD on their vaccines then i probably would not worry about it. They aren't infants, and the vaccine should prevent it right?

edbson wrote:Um, if they are UTD on their vaccines then i probably would not worry about it. They aren't infants, and the vaccine should prevent it right?

Whooping cough is highly contagious. Between 75% and 100% of unimmunized household contacts of a person with pertussis will develop the disease. Even among fully immunized and naturally immunized people living in the same household, there have been reports of undetectable infection following extreme exposure.

found this on webmd , so not helping me not worry, my poor dd has to be on a debulizer each time she gets sick

We had a mumps and measles epidemic around here last year in local highschools. Best of luck to you and your kids mrschia I hoep you all manage to avoid it.

Whooping cough is very, very, very dangerous among the very young, very old, and very ill. Healthy adults, teens, and kids old enough for school are at low risk of serious problems even if they do catch it. So, if you have a baby at home, or a grandparent in poor health, don't send your kids to school. The disease kills basically as a side effect of coughing so much. You cough and cough and cough and it's so constant that you can't eat. If you do get a few bites down, the coughing causes you to vomit. They cough can be so violent that you break ribs from the spasm of it. But, adults and healthy kids can usually fight it off. If you're healthy, it's like a very bad cough that you can't shake. Lasts for weeks and is 24/7. If you're not in good health, it's often deadly.

I feel for you.. I was reading today that a school around 40 miles away has an outbreak.. Katie came home coughing today and then said.. "Guess how Anthony coughs?".. how.. "He sounds like a seal".. eek...

Thanks everyone, it is so nice to have a place to ask questions and vent.

I think one of the schools by me recently had a case of whooping cough reported. My friend has kids who go there, and was calling the doctor to get her son on "pre-emptive" antibiotics.