Winning war against whooping cough

Whooping cough is not something to take lightly. Surges in the rate of pertussis infections appear across the state every three to five years, and this is one of those years. Roughly 10,000 people have been stricken statewide, and three infants have died. For sheer numbers, this is even worse than the 2010 outbreak, though there were more infant deaths (10) that year.

The good news is that immunizations against whooping cough are rising, according to story from The Sacramento Bee’s Phillip Reese (Page A1, Dec. 11). And that means future outbreaks might not be as severe.

In the past few years, some parents refused to have their children immunized for whooping cough and other diseases. They feared the vaccine could be more harmful than the disease itself. Those fears were stoked by Internet reports that have since been debunked.

Here’s the even better news: Here in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, we’re doing better at preventing whooping cough than the rest of the state. Across California, the infection rate is 26 per 100,000 residents. But here in Merced County there have been only eight cases, for an infection rate of only 3.04 per 100,000 – which is utterly remarkable. For comparison, look at Stanislaus County, which is also doing quite well at 15.9 cases per 100,000 residents, but can’t really compare. San Joaquin County is closer to the state average at 28.5, and Madera is at 30.6. Mariposa County is one of six counties – five in the Sierra – that haven’t had any cases this year.

All children entering public schools must be vaccinated against pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus, but worried parents can opt out. That happens less frequently here than elsewhere in the state and you can draw a fairly straight line between school immunization rates and infection rates. Only six of Merced County’s 41 public elementary schools fall below 90 percent immunization. Not one school in Livingston or Delhi has less than a 90 percent immunization rate.

Several schools, such as El Nido, Cressey, Atwater’s Elmer Wood, Yamato in Livingston, Planada and Charleston in Los Banos had 100 percent immunization rates. Our Lady of Miracles in Gustine and St. Paul Lutheran School in Merced also had a 100 percent rate.

As we said, California is in the midst of a pertussis epidemic, but it is less harrowing here. Part of the reason could be that women here are being vaccinated while in the final trimester of their pregnancies. Infants are at the most dire risk of any group in the entire population. But those whose mothers have been immunized in the third trimester arrive already immunized. It might wear off, but once the child reaches four months, he or she can begin the regular immunization program.

There’s an interesting anomaly at work here. Usually, in measurements of health and welfare, Central Valley counties fare worse than more affluent counties. Not this time.

Marin County has had 93.4 cases of pertussis per 100,000, Napa 95.6 and San Diego 51.1. Sonoma County has had an astounding 141 cases per 100,000 residents. Perhaps folks in those areas with higher incomes and spend more of their free time scaring themselves on the Internet than listening to the professionals.

Clearly, parents in our region are doing the smart thing and getting their kids vaccinated. That keeps all of us healthier.

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Winning war against whooping cough."