Is it time for you to get a whooping cough vaccination? For most the answer is yes

<p>Doug Jung showed up at his doctor's office Thursday and got swift orders. After a regular checkup, he walked down the hall at Kaiser Permanente's Santa Rosa Medical Center and into the vaccination clinic.</p><p>He was there to update his immunization for whooping cough, the highly contagious bacterial infection that's been declared an epidemic in California.</p><p>While infants are seen as most at risk from the disease, also known as pertussis, doctors and public health officials are now urging all those age 10 and older who have not had a whooping cough booster in the past five years to get one.</p><p>Many teenagers and most adults fall into that group because the new whooping cough booster has only been out since 2005.</p><p>Jung, 59, who actually suffered from whooping cough when he was a child, was grateful for the advice.</p><p>“You cough until you can't breathe. It's really, really nasty,” the Santa Rosa resident said. “This (shot) is a good thing to get.”</p><p>Doctors and health officials are hoping that a large number of Sonoma County residents will agree.</p><p>The county's low vaccination rate — 4 percent under the state rate and around 50 percent in some school districts — is thought to be one reason for the high number of local whooping cough cases. </p><p>In Sonoma county 179 people have been diagnosed with the illness, including 17 infants, five of whom were hospitalized. The county's rate of infection ranks sixth in California, according to the latest state records. Marin County ranks second.</p><p>The fight to roll back those numbers, said Kaiser family doctor Patricia Padilla, begins with an assurance.</p><p>“This is a very safe vaccine,” she said. “There shouldn't be any fear of the vaccine itself. There should be fear of the disease.”</p><p>Whooping cough symptoms are often similar to a common cold, but also include a deep chest cough that can cause a choking feeling and vomiting. Left untreated, the cough can persist for months.</p><p>For infants, especially, the illness can be life-threatening. Eight babies under three months old have died in the state this year; none of the deaths have been on the North Coast. </p><p>A three-shot series given to infantsin their first six months provides the best buffer against whooping cough, experts said. </p><p>To further protect young children — which generally are required to be vaccinated by age 5 before they enter school — health care providers are now focusing on vaccinating those around them.</p><p>That includes parents and immediate family. Five local hospitals, including Kaiser, Santa Rosa Memorial, Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, Sonoma Valley and Petaluma Valley hospitals are now offering free vaccines for those individuals. </p><p>Boosters are also being recommended specifically for teenagers because their immunizations before kindergarten typically have worn out by now. Those in the 11-to-18 age group represent 40 percent, the largest number, of whooping cough cases in the county.</p><p>Physicians are also making the booster available for 7-to-10-year-olds to cover young children who were not previously vaccinated. </p><p>Vaccines for all age groups are available at area hospitals, more than a dozen community health centers and at a number of public health clinics being offered by the county this month. A list of providers is available on the county public health website for whooping cough: www.sonoma-county.org/health/ph/diseasecontrol/pertussis.</p><p>Physicians and some pharmacies in the area also offer the vaccine. Most insurance plans cover the shots, as do health centers, which pay for the service through Medi-Cal and other government-run programs. </p><p>At pharmacies, a booster shot can cost up to $60, a health official said. </p><p>One shot for an individual older than 10 is currently considered adequate to provide long-term whooping cough immunity. Treatment is generally through a course of antibiotics. After five days most patients are no longer contagious.</p><p>Since the state declared an epidemic earlier this summer, and especially in the approach to the new school year, local health officials say they've seen an increase in vaccinations.</p><p>At the Kaiser clinic, nurses are administering more than 100 shots every week. County-held clinics this summer have immunized more than 800 people, including 136 at Santa Rosa's Downtown Market Wednesday night.</p><p>No countywide numbers are available, but “there's been much more interest than in a normal year,” said county Deputy Public Health Officer Mark Netherda. </p><p>“It's still not enough,” he added. “We need to get more people vaccinated.”</p><p>Of particular concern is getting the word out to minority communities, including the county's sizable Latino population, officials said. All eight whooping cough deaths in the state have been babies in Latino households. </p><p>Santa Rosa Community Health Center pediatrician Brian Prystowsky said his focus is now on making sure the youngest members of Spanish-speaking families are surrounded by immunized siblings and adults.</p><p>“If there's a kid who's less than six months old who hasn't received the full series of shots, we try to create a ring of protection around them,” he said.</p><p>As Prystowsky looked on Thursday, Ludibina Villegas held her 3-month old daughter Briana as she was vaccinated for whooping cough, tetanus and diptheria. </p><p>While pregnant, Villegas had gotten her own booster shot. Andres, her 4-year-old son seated next to her, was current on his vaccines. Next up is her husband, who she planned to bring in for his shot soon.</p><p>“It's for their health,” she said in Spanish, looking at her children. “It's something that is very important to us.”</p>