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Orange County Health Department Confirms 2 Related Whooping Cough Cases - Chapelboro.com <br />https://chapelboro.com/news/health/orange-county-health-department-confirms-2-related-whooping-cough-cases[5/14/2018 11:25:02 AM] <br />Orange County Health Department Confirms 2 Related <br />Whooping Cough Cases <br />Posted by Blake Hodge | May 7, 2018 | Health | 0 <br />A case of whooping cough prompted a cautionary message to parents of students at one Orange <br />County elementary school. <br />The letter from Orange County Health director Quintana Stewart was sent to parents of students at <br />Grady Brown Elementary School in Hillsborough late last week. Stewart wrote that the department <br />“has identified one confirmed case of Pertussis” at the school. <br />Orange County Health Department spokesperson Kristin Prelipp told WCHL that two cases of whooping <br />cough were confirmed in a nine-year-old student at Grady Brown Elementary and their nine-month-old <br />sibling. <br />Both children were vaccinated, according to Prelipp. The letter sent to parents said that the <br />vaccinations are effective in “preventing disease in 80%-85% of those who are vaccinated.” <br />This letter comes after a whooping cough outbreak earlier this year. There were 20 cases of Pertussis <br />during that outbreak, according to an email from Stewart to other officials. <br />An outbreak is defined as being three or more unrelated cases of whooping cough. <br />The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that whooping cough “usually starts with cold-like <br />symptoms and maybe a mild cough or fever.” <br />As the disease progresses, symptoms evolve to fits of rapid coughs, vomiting and exhaustion. <br />While both children affected by whooping cough in this scenario were vaccinated, the CDC maintains <br />the Pertussis vaccine is beneficial and important to prevention. <br /> <br />Related <br />Whooping Cough Outbreak at <br />Two Chapel Hill High Schools <br />Whooping Cough Confirmed in <br />Hillsborough <br />Young Children At High Risk Of <br />Whooping Cough <br />NEWS SPORTS TOWN SQUARE LOCAL EVENTS PHOTOS WCHL ON DEMAND STORE <br /> <br />Like 6