Whooping Cough Outbreaks Reported in Illinois, Minnesota

Health officials in Minnesota and Illinois say have reported whooping cough outbreaks in their states.

The Minnesota Department of Health confirmed a recent outbreak of 16 cases among upper elementary students in Dakota County and an outbreak of 24 cases in Douglas County high school students.

In 2005, more than 1,500 cases of whopping cough were reported in Minnesota.

The Health and Human Services office in Evanston, Ill. said they’ve confirmed five cases of whooping cough and two additional cases are suspected, but have yet to be confirmed.

WinnebagoCounty in northern Illinois announced last week that it had diagnosed 38 cases of whooping cough since the end of October. Twenty-eight of those cases involved one private school.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, occurs in cycles of 3-5 years.

A person infected with whooping cough, also called pertussis, develops a cough that comes in bursts or spells. The illness takes a few weeks to run its course, and is transmitted through coughing, talking and sneezing. Officials do not consider it life-threatening, however, they do recommend people get vaccinated for the illness.

Patients with the illness can lose sleep and weight.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.