Whooping cough outbreak slowing in Minnesota - KXLT - Fox 47 Rochester MN News, Weather and Sports

Whooping cough outbreak slowing in Minnesota

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By Jess Abrahamson, Anchor/Producer/Reporter - bio | email

 

ROCHESTER, Minnesota (KTTC) - Minnesota health officials say an outbreak of whooping cough appears to be slowing in the state.

Back in April, a number of cases broke out amongst John Adams Middle School students in Rochester.

Minnesota Public Radio News reports in the past two weeks another 190 cases were confirmed. That's nearly the same number of cases that were reported for just one week in mid-September.

Claudia Miller of the Minnesota Department of Health says the drop in cases is a good sign. But she says there is still a lot of the disease circulating in the community.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, causes a persistent, severe cough that sometimes lasts for months.

In total, Minnesota has confirmed more than 3,700 cases of the bacterial infection. That's the highest number since the 1940s, before a vaccine was developed.

Three-quarters of the cases have occurred in vaccinated people.

 

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