Pertussis, tuberculosis detected

Five cases of pertussis (whooping cough) and one of tuberculosis have kept public health officials busy as they track down others who had contact with the infected individuals.

Boni Stout, director of Community Health at the Flathead Valley Health Department, said the contagious diseases were discovered through required reporting. She said neither the isolated case of T.B. nor the pertussis infections were unusual.

The pertussis emergence has consumed multiple contact hours from tracking down all possible contacts of five patients. Stout said such diseases as pertussis cycle through periodically.

"It's starting to perk," she said.

Adults act as reservoirs of the disease, Stout said. Although included in childhood vaccinations, pertussis protection diminishes with passing years, waning by age 11, she said.

Symptoms of adult pertussis don't generally include "the whoop" familiar in children. Stout said most adult patients receive diagnoses of bronchitis from health-care providers.

"They're not looking for pertussis in adults," she said. "But we're the ones making babies sick."

She said pertussis is referred to as "the 100-day cough" because of the persistent hacking. A nasal swab test can detect the disease for treatment with an antibiotic.

While the medication doesn't significantly shorten the days of suffering, she said it does keep the patient from infecting others.

New combination vaccines offer pertussis protection for older children and adults, she said. The department will offer a diphtheria/pertussis vaccine for seventh-graders in the fall.

"We hope a lot of people will opt to get the new vaccine," she said.

Pertussis became uncommon by the 1970s but has made a comeback since the late '80s. The disease poses the most risk to infants.

Tuberculosis was also on the rise in the United States until 1992. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases have decreased since then.

The single case of tuberculosis in the Flathead was discovered in October. The patient, a man in his 40s, thinks that he contracted the disease out-of-state.

Stout said the case was not alarming or unique.

"We never go long without a case of T.B.," she said. "We have about one a year."

When an X-ray confirmed the active disease, the man was placed on four antibiotics under direct observational therapy.

"That means we take him the medicine and make sure he takes it," she said.

Stout said the man has fully cooperated, voluntarily staying at home. The department provides laundry and grocery shopping services.

The patient has improved after about four months on the drug protocol, but tests show he still could infect others.

"We need to be very confident that we are protecting the public as well as ourselves," she said.

Along with overseeing the patient's treatment, the department gets in contact with everyone who could have acquired the infection.

Stout said the department often finds people who test positive for latent tuberculosis, referred to as converters. These were followed up with chest X-rays that showed no active tuberculosis.

A preventative medication is available to prevent latent cases from becoming active.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.