Whooping cough in Saint John

There is a confirmed case of Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, at Forest Hills Elementary School in Saint John.

Melissa Savoie, the acting principal,posted a notice on the school's web site, advising parents about the whooping cough case.

There have been no details released about who at the school is sick.

"Please seek medical advice if you or your child is experiencing symptoms," Savoie said.

Whooping coughis a highly contagiousbacterial infection in the respiratory tract that resembles a common cold except for the prolonged coughing.

Symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, low grade fever and coughing that often ends with a whooping sound before the next breath.

The disease can affect people of any age, however, it is most severe among young infants.

Itis spread through droplets in the air from an infected persons coughs or sneezes. It can also be spread through coming in contact with discharges from an infected persons nose or throat.

Symptoms usually start five to 21 days after someone has been exposed.

One to three deaths fromwhooping coughoccur each year in Canada, particularly in infants too young to have begun their immunization and infants who havenot received all of thedoses required to be fully immunized.

In 2011, the provincialgovernment started immunizing new parentsagainst whooping cough in hopes of preventing an outbreak.

Dr. Paul Van Buynder, who was then the province's deputy chief medical officer of health, predicted New Brunswick was overdue for an outbreak.

Health officials said theinitiative was needed to combat dropping immunization rates, the cyclical nature of the illness, with outbreaks occurring every four years, and a change in lifestyles.

Many parents are having their children later in life and the whooping cough vaccine no longer protects them, they explained.