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The Washtenaw County Health Department is warning patrons of the Saline Recreation Center that a child who attends center’s Kids Corner program has contracted pertussis, commonly known as “whooping cough.”
“The Rec Center has posted the alert notice from the county and a fact sheet in Kids Corner and at the front desk,” the Saline Recreation Center announced on its Facebook page. “The Rec Center consulted with the Health Department and with the city’s health officer regarding disinfecting the Kids Corner facility including all hard surfaces, toys, floor and equipment.”
The recreation center at 1866 Woodland Drive in Saline also has fitness equipment, gyms, a pool, indoor track and other facilities for adults.
“Pertussis is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. “After cough fits, someone with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths, which result in a ‘whooping’ sound.
“Pertussis can affect people of all ages, but can be very serious, even deadly, for babies less than a year old.”
Vaccination for the disease is recommended.
“Following the introduction of pertussis vaccines in the 1940s when case counts frequently exceeded 100,000 cases per year, reports declined dramatically to fewer than 10,000 by 1965,” the CDC says. “During the 1980s pertussis reports began increasing gradually, and by 2017 more than 18,000 cases were reported nationwide.”
