Pertussis cases up in N. Idaho

COEUR d’ALENE — Four months left in 2014 and already the number of whooping cough cases reported in Idaho is double what was reported this time last year.

With the first day of school just weeks away — and spreading of the disease likely to increase —  Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare is urging all pregnant women and parents of small children to get vaccinated against pertussis.

Pertussis cases in Idaho are at a record high with 241 cases diagnosed so far this year — 25 of those in Idaho’s five northern counties, according to Health and Welfare. In 2013, a total of 237 cases were reported statewide.

Of the reported cases in 2013, 24 were in North Idaho.

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