TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) State health official say whooping cough cases are increasing across Kansas, with Pottawatomie County particularly hard hit.
KMAN has reporting on Pottawatomie County pertussis cases for the past several weeks, but the area county was just mentioned at the state level.
The state has recorded 405 confirmed cases of the disease so far this year, compared with 172 in all of 2013. In Pottawatomie County 17 confirmed cases have been reported. Last year, the northeast Kansas county had one case.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1pqdH47 ) that all schools within the Wamego School District have had free vaccination clinics for staff members. A clinic for students was held Wednesday at West Elementary, the hardest hit school in the district
The disease, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. It can be prevented by vaccine.
