BATTLE CREEK (WKZO AM/FM) — Battle Creek area schools, like most schools in the state already require that all students get a shot that includes a vaccine for pertussis, or Whooping Cough.
The Calhoun County Health Department is now asking that parents check the immunization records of their children, after one student in Battle Creek was diagnosed with the highly contagious bacterial disease.
They say it can be a serious illness for young children who have not been immunized, and they have notified parents through a letter of what symptoms to watch for.
They say it is spread through sneezing and coughing and the incubation period can be anywhere between one to three weeks from exposure to the time symptoms appear.
It has the same early symptoms as a cold and can develop into a low grade fever with vomiting and violent fits of coughing that can empty the lungs of air, and produce the distinctive whooping noise when the child breathes back in.
They are asking parents to make sure their children are up to date on their shots and aware of the symptoms.
