The state Department of Health is investigating two confirmed cases and eight probable cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough, on Hawaiʻi Island.
It’s a highly infectious bacterial disease that can be life-threatening, particularly in young children. Signs and symptoms include runny nose, fever, coughing, struggling to breathe or turning shades of blue.
The two whooping cough cases came from separate households in different parts of the island. The DOH says there were no travel-related exposures, unlike in February when the state reported five cases from visitors traveling to an Oʻahu hotel from the continental U.S.
"I would say that the fact that there's no travel exposure associated with the cases indicates that there is some degree of transmission happening in the community," said DOH Deputy State Epidemiologist Nathan Tan.
Tan said a prominent detail about these cases is that there are several of them within three different locations in which the DOH has an established link.
"That suggests that there is some transmission happening outside of this circle or clusters of cases. And so for the community, the important take home point, is that there is some degree of pertussis transmission that has happened in the community," he said.
Tan recommends getting vaccines like D-tap and T-dap to prevent infection and severe outcomes.
However, only 87% of Hawaiʻi's kindergarteners were vaccinated with D-tap last school year, according to the state Department of Health.
"The goal of vaccination, in part, is to prevent infection but also, most importantly, protect against the severest outcomes of whooping cough," Tan said.
He said that although annual cases of whooping cough are low, they serve as a reminder to get the vaccine before it's too late.
"I can say historically, back in the 1920s, there were like 6,000 cases of whooping cough here in Hawaiʻi. We don't see that level anymore. And that's due to the fact that the vaccine is so effective."
For more information on whooping cough, click here.
This story aired on The Conversation on April 10, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
