Health Officials Urge Whooping Cough Vaccination Before Holidays
LOS ANGELES (KNX1070) — With the holidays right around the corner, health officials are urging those who have not already done so to get vaccinated against the whooping cough.
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Health Officials Urge Whooping Cough Vaccinations, KNX 1070's Ed Mertz reports
"We're urging people who are eligible for the Tdap booster to do so as soon as possible before the holidays because it takes time to get immunity from the vaccine," Christine Munday with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said.
According to Munday, the outbreak of whooping cough reports is at record levels.
"In October we had 429. In just the first week of November, we already got 101 reports," she said.
Los Angeles County has had more than 1,600 cases reported this year with the disease claiming the lives of four children.
"Infants six months or younger, we've had four deaths this year and that's because they have not received all of their vaccines," Munday added.
Health officials say whooping cough is treatable with antibiotics and can be prevented with the vaccine.
