Whooping cough on the rise in Clark County

Jacob Nierenberg • Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Whooping cough on the rise in Clark County</h1>
                <h2><p>Clark County health officials are worried that whooping cough has hit, in their words, “outbreak levels.” As County Public Health Director Dr. Alan Melnick told KOMO, some 237 cases of whooping cough have been confirmed in Clark County this year. This time last year, the count was 21, marking nearly</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/jacob-nierenberg-crosscut-com/">Jacob Nierenberg</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Clark County health officials are worried that whooping cough has hit, in their words, “outbreak levels.” As County Public Health Director Dr. Alan Melnick <a href="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Whooping-cough-at-outbreak-levels-in-Clark-County-314555321.html?ref=avalancheghost.one">told KOMO</a>, some 237 cases of whooping cough have been confirmed in Clark County this year. This time last year, the count was 21, marking nearly a twelvefold increase. Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, begins with symptoms similar to the common cold — sneezing, runny nose, weak fever — before the titular cough sets in, lasting around two weeks.</p><p>Perhaps this, coupled with the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/02/health/us-measles-death/?ref=avalancheghost.one">recent measles fatality</a> (the country’s first in twelve years) will serve as a reminder to parents: Vaccinate your children. Celebrities are not scientists, and alternative medicine is usually pseudoscience. If you are a Clark County resident, you can find information about places to get immunized <a href="http://www.clark.wa.gov/public-health/diseases/whoopingcough.html?ref=avalancheghost.one">here</a>.</p>
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Clark County health officials are worried that whooping cough has hit, in their words, “outbreak levels.” As County Public Health Director Dr. Alan Melnick told KOMO, some 237 cases of whooping cough have been confirmed in Clark County this year. This time last year, the count was 21, marking nearly a twelvefold increase. Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, begins with symptoms similar to the common cold — sneezing, runny nose, weak fever — before the titular cough sets in, lasting around two weeks.

Perhaps this, coupled with the recent measles fatality (the country’s first in twelve years) will serve as a reminder to parents: Vaccinate your children. Celebrities are not scientists, and alternative medicine is usually pseudoscience. If you are a Clark County resident, you can find information about places to get immunized here.

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By Jacob Nierenberg

Jacob Nierenberg is an editorial intern at Crosscut. He has lived in Washington for nearly all of his life, and still proudly identifies with the Pacific Northwest despite his relocation to Stanford U