The Deschutes County health department says it has its first confirmed case of Pertussis this year. The bacterial infection, also known as whooping cough is particularly dangerous for infants under the age of 1, for whom an infection is potentially deadly.
Tom Kuhn is the Community Health Program Manager for Deschutes County Health Services. He says statewide, whooping cough has been making the rounds.
Kuhn says as of June 11 more than 380 cases have been reported in Oregon.
"And that's already more than we had all of 2011," he says.
"So we are seeing an increase statewide, so we want to take this opportunity to send out a prevention message, before the increase in cases starts working its way down to Deschutes," says Kuhn.
Besides simple hand washing, the best way to prevent Pertussis is to get inoculated. Most health care providers can administer the pertussis vaccine to infants and children. Kuhn says vaccination is also available for adults.
