Whooping cough in Long Beach High School

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The Nassau County Board of Health has told Long Beach High School that a second student “has been diagnosed with a probable case of pertussis (whooping cough),” according to a letter sent to parents by the school.

The letter, written by principal William Stroud and obtained by the Herald, said that the school received the notification from the board of health on Jan. 20. The letter has also been quoted extensively on social media.

Stroud goes on to explain in the letter what pertussis is, what the symptoms are and how to combat it.

The letter does not identify the stricken students nor does it say what their conditions are. The high school nurse, Carol Henck, declined to comment on the matter, citing privacy concerns. Board of health officials also refused to provide further information for the same reason. The health department would only offer general information about the pertussis situation in Nassau County.

The letter from Stroud says that pertussis is an infection that affects the airways and is easily spread by coughing or sneezing. A severe pertussis cough can last for weeks or months, sometimes leading to coughing fits and even vomiting. The letter also notes that people with the disease, especially mothers, can spread it to newborns.

According to Mary Ellen Laurain, spokeswoman for the Nassau Department of Health, the pertussis incubation period — that is, the period between exposure to an infection and the appearance of the first symptoms — is usually seven to 10 days; sometimes it can run 21 days and very rarely, 42 days.

Laurain said Nassau County saw 34 cases of pertussis in 2014, and 62 in 2015; the three-year average is 67 cases, she said.

The most important method of combating pertussis is prevention, medical experts say. Dr. Aaron Glatt, chairman of the department of medicine and an epidemiologist at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, said in an interview, “We have the ability to deal with these diseases through vaccines. People are not getting vaccinated, as they should for non-medical, personal, life style and other erroneous reasons. The decision to get vaccinated can affect the entire community.”

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