Whooping Cough
Pertussis, also referred to as Whooping Cough or the "100-day cough", is a disease caused by bacteria that is easily spread from person to person. Anyone can get pertussis, although it's usually mild in older children and adults, but often causes serious problems for young children.
What are the signs of Pertussis?
Pertussis symptoms have three stages
1st stage: begins like a cold with a runny nose, sneezing, and cough. The cough slowly worsens for a week or two
2nd stage: uncontrollable coughing spells, vomiting after coughing, and sometimes getting a whooping noise you can hear when one breathes in. This stage lasts around 2 to 6 weeks
3rd stage: when symptoms gradually lessen. The person may still have a cough for months
How is Pertussis spread?
Pertussis lives in the nose, mouth, and throat and is sprayed into the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or talks. Symptoms normally arise 7 to 10 days after a person is exposed.
When do you get vaccinated for Pertussis?
The CDC Recommends whooping cough vaccination for
Babies and Children
Preteens and teens
Women who are pregnant
Adults
Vaccines help protect against whooping cough and they work well, but protection decreases over time. There are 2 types of combination vaccines that include protection against whooping cough: DTaP and Tdap. The "T" in DTaP and Tdap indicates that they also protect against tetanus. The letter "D/d" in DTaP and Tdap shows that they protect against diphtheria.
The CDC recommends whooping cough vaccines for people of all ages.
What do I do if I test positive for Pertussis?
If diagnosed with Pertussis, current recommendations state that one must isolate for 5 days after receiving antibiotics. One is considered to be infectious 7 days before cough onset through 3 weeks (21 days) after cough onset.
What if I am a close contact of a confirmed case?
If you are identified as a close contact by local health officials or school personnel, you are urged to receive post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). PEP is considered to be a 5-day course of antibiotics.
You may be considered a close contact if you:
Are living in the same household as a confirmed case
Are a person at high-risk of developing a severe pertussis infection
Are a person who has contact with people at high-risk of developing a severe pertussis infection
What does the current outbreak look like?
Although cases are currently on the decline here in the North Shore, public health officials are remaining vigilant of curbing the spread of pertussis.
The current outbreak centers around middle and high school aged students. As such, the North Shore Public Health Collaborative urges all individuals remain up-do-date on their vaccines and stay home if you're sick or start to get sick.
Below are Pertussis trends from previous years in the NSPHC community. Please note that not all communities are included in these case counts, so cases could be higher than presented for a given year.
Information for Schools
Work with the school nurse or other school personnel (such as teachers and coaches) to identify close contacts who were exposed to the case while the case was infectious, especially those at increased risk of severe disease, or increased risk of transmission to those at increased risk of severe disease.
It is helpful to telephone the contacts, or the parents of contacts, especially the symptomatic ones, as well as sending letters home. The school nurse usually makes these calls.
In general, prophylaxis is not usually indicated for an entire classroom where there is one laboratory-confirmed case. In the school setting, prophylaxis should be limited to those defined as close contacts, and surveillance for additional cases of cough illness. However, there may be some rare exceptions to this, such as special needs classrooms where there is a great deal of close contact, or many high-risk students, or small classrooms of very young children.
Notify teachers or coaches who have a case in their class or on their sports team to refer other coughing children to the nurse’s office for evaluation.
School personnel should keep track of symptomatic close contacts in a line listing of suspect cases. This information will help in deciding whether larger groups need to be prophylaxed.
Exclusion of unvaccinated or under-vaccinated students is usually not indicated.
Sample letters are available from MDPH at (617) 983-6800 or through your local board of health
Resources
Last Updated:
11/21/25, 5:02 PM
Last Updated:
11/21/25, 5:02 PM
Last Updated:
11/21/25, 5:02 PM