Whooping Cough Claims 10th Infant Death In California
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — Health officials are warning parents to take extra precautions after a whooping cough claimed the life of a 6-week-old baby in San Diego County last week, bringing to ten the number of babies who have died in California during this year's epidemic.
The baby who died last week was treated at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.
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The highly contagious illness has symptoms similar to the common cold, but a persistent cough that lasts weeks may indicate the illness, which is also known as pertussis. More than 5,270 people have been infected in California.
All the babies who have died this year were too young to be fully immunized, so health officials are urging parents and caretakers to get booster shots to create a cocoon of immunity
around vulnerable children.
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