UPDATE: Whooping cough outbreak has health officials encouraging immunizations

March 21, 2017

UPDATE (WKOW) — One Janesville school is seeing an outbreak of a dangerous disease.

Rock County health officials say there are 10 to 20 confirmed cases of whooping cough reported, and others suspected, among students at Craig High School in Janesville. That’s unusual for just one school, so the district has taken action, sending letters home to parents and organizing a free, immunization clinic at the school Tuesday afternoon.

“Immediately once one case came up we notified parents right away,” says Christine Wesling, coordinator for student services at the Janesville School District. “A week or so later there were a couple more cases so we sent another communication out and also sent a specific letter to all the parents of students who were not immunized, letting them know we would have the clinic if they were interested in taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Deb Erickson, nursing supervisor with Rock County Health Department, tells 27 News the county has a low immunization rate, which could be impacting the spread of pertussis at Craig.

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UPDATE: Whooping cough outbreak has health officials encouraging immunizations

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