New numbers show whooping cough still on rise in McHenry County

Whooping cough is on the rise in McHenry County.

The McHenry County Department of Health reported eight cases of whooping cough, also called pertussis, in the county in October.

Whooping cough can affect people of all ages, but babies under age 1 are at greatest risk of contracting whooping cough and experiencing severe complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report is publicly available on the health department website but only links to data since 2019. The county reported eight cases in all of 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the county reported 10 cases of whooping cough, one in 2021 and two in 2022.

Thirteen cases were reported in 2023, and compared to the 35 cases tallied this year through the end of October, more than double the 2023 year-end total.

The health department’s monthly update comes after school districts in McHenry alerted families to the illness last week. McHenry High School Upper Campus officials said they were aware of one case, and officials in McHenry District 15 said in a letter students at McHenry Middle School were exposed to the illness.

Officials urged families to check vaccination records, and if students show symptoms, to have them evaluated by a doctor and keep them home with antibiotic treatments for five days if they are diagnosed with whooping cough.

Symptoms of whopping cough include, according to the CDC:

Early symptoms that can last one to two weeks include runny or stuffed-up nose, low-grade fever of less than 100.4 degrees and mild, occasional cough.

Later symptoms can include rapid, violent and uncontrolled coughing fits that can continue over the course of one to six weeks but in some cases can last for up to 10 weeks. The cough generally gets worse and becomes more frequent as the illness continues.

The health department sent out a memo in December 2023 to school nurses in the county, saying they had heard of cases of whooping cough in school-age children in McHenry and neighboring counties. At the time, the county had reported 11 cases of pertussis through the end of November 2023.

There is a vaccine available for whooping cough, but those those infected are generally treated with antibiotics, according to the CDC.