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Berrien County continues to see a rise in cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough, according to Dr. Jonathan Beyer, the county’s medical director.
“Our recommendation is still – there are safe and effective vaccines out,” Beyer told members of the Berrien County Board of Health on Wednesday.
He said most of the cases involved people who were not vaccinated.
Sara Palmer, epidemiologist with the health department, said there have been 11 cases of pertussis reported in Berrien County since August, with five of them found in January.
“For every case we know about that was tested or reported, there are a lot of unknown cases,” Palmer said.
She said the whooping cough cases ranged from infants to people in their mid-40s, with most of them being children in elementary or high school.
“We are pretty much in line with what the rest of the state is seeing,” Palmer said.
Health Officer Guy Miller said his office has reached out to the families to make sure the contagious respiratory illness doesn’t spread.
“It is recommended by the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control) to treat the family with antibiotics prophylactically so that if they were to be infected by the bacteria pertussis, they are protected,” Miller said.
Beyer said mild cases of whooping cough can appear to be a common cold, but last much longer than a cold.
Other illnesses
In addition, Beyer said about one-third of his patients in the emergency room have tested positive for influenza.
Palmer said influenza activity is classified as very high in Michigan.
“Our vaccine coverage in Berrien is only 22 percent of eligible people with the influenza vaccine. That’s pretty low,” she said.
According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, children under 5 are at high risk, with seven children dying from influenza in the state in the 2023-24 flu season.
“COVID infections have also increased, but they’re starting to maybe trickle a little bit downward,” Palmer said, adding that only 9 percent of people in Berrien County are vaccinated against COVID.