Teresa Weese never imagined her 21-month-old daughter would be one of the hundreds of Clark County residents diagnosed with whooping cough this year.
Weese always makes sure her children are up-to-date on their immunizations. Her youngest, Madastee Vandeusen, has received four of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis) vaccines in the five-dose series; the fifth dose isn’t administered until she’s older.
Despite being up-to-date on her vaccines, Madastee was diagnosed with whooping cough on June 9. She’s one of more than 200 local residents to be diagnosed with the illness so far this year.
“It makes me angry that she got it. I get her immunized for a reason,” Weese said. “I never thought she would ever catch something I put her through the torture of getting poked to prevent.”
A child like Madastee, who is in the middle of the immunization series, isn’t as protected as a child who has received all five doses, said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County Public Health director and county health officer. That’s why it’s important for others, including adolescents and adults, to get vaccinated, he said.
“The more of us who get immunized, the higher the level of herd immunity we’re going to have,” Melnick said. “We basically need to do it to protect not only ourselves but folks who aren’t fully immunized.”
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is an illness spread through respiratory secretions such as coughing and sneezing. The illness is particularly dangerous, and potentially deadly, for infants.
The state recommends children receive five doses of the DTaP vaccine, at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 to 18 months and 4 to 6 years. Adolescents ages 11 to 18 and adults ages 19 to 64 should receive a tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis booster, commonly known as Tdap. Pregnant women should also receive a Tdap booster during every pregnancy.
“If you’re a 5-year-old and you get that fifth dose, you’re 98 percent protected, according to the (Centers for Disease Control),” Melnick said.
However, the vaccine’s effectiveness wanes over time. Five years after a child receives that fifth dose, the protection has dropped to 70 percent, Melnick said.
“Immunizations aren’t 100 percent effective, but they’re still the best thing we can do,” Melnick said.
“If you’re vaccinated, you’re less likely to get pertussis,” he added. “And if you do get it, you’re less likely to be hospitalized.”
Currently, Clark County is experiencing a whooping cough outbreak.
Local health officials have recorded 211 cases of whooping cough through June 11. During that same time period last year, only 16 people were diagnosed with the illness.
Clark County’s year-to-date numbers have also surpassed those of 2012, when the more than 5,000 people were sickened statewide. In Clark County, 207 people were diagnosed with whooping cough from Jan. 1 to June 11, 2012.
Melnick is optimistic the numbers will drop once schools release for the summer, bringing fewer children in contact with each other daily.
ER visit
Weese first noticed her daughter wasn’t feeling well on June 7. Madastee spent the day at Lewisville Park, cooling off in the water and having fun with other kids. Later in the day, Weese noticed that Madastee looked distant and sleepy. She thought maybe the heat was getting to the little girl.
Later that night, though, Weese grew worried and took Madastee to the emergency room. The doctor suspected Madastee had an upper respiratory illness and told Weese to make sure her daughter got plenty of fluids and rest.
Madastee seemed fine until the evening of June 9.
Weese, Madastee and Madastee’s dad, Mike Vandeusen, left their home near Fargher Lake and headed toward Vancouver at about 6:30 p.m. After about five minutes in the car, Weese noticed Madastee started to look sleepy, even though she had already napped. Her color looked off and her eyes looked glazed, Weese said.
“This weird feeling came over me, a horrible feeling,” she said.
Seconds later, Madastee started coughing hard. Her face turned bright red. Then, she started vomiting.
“It looked like she wasn’t breathing,” Weese said.
Weese stopped the car and jumped into the backseat with Madastee. Weese could barely feel her daughter breathing.
“She was just lifeless,” she said.
Then, the violent coughing and vomiting started again. Vandeusen raced them to the hospital. In the emergency room, Madastee had another coughing episode. Physicians immediately suspected whooping cough.
They sent tests to the lab to confirm the diagnosis and started Madastee, and the rest of the family, on medication.
While Madastee finished the medication Sunday and is no longer contagious, she will likely have the cough for several more weeks. The cough can last as long as three months. Madastee has an average of 15 to 20 coughing episodes every day, Weese said.
“Some of these coughs, I’m ready to call 911 because I don’t know if she’s going to catch her breath,” Weese said.
When the coughing starts, Madastee’s face turns bright red and she begins to sweat. Her face looks swollen. Her skin turns purple and blue around her eyes and mouth, Weese said.
“It’s indescribable,” she said. “You don’t know if your child is going to be breathing again at the end.”
Weese doesn’t know where Madastee picked up the illness — she doesn’t go to day care and isn’t around other kids often.
But Melnick said people can have seemingly harmless symptoms similar to those of a cold and actually have pertussis.
“You can be very contagious in the first two weeks when it seems like a minor cold,” he said. “You’re contagious before you even realize you have pertussis.”
