APPLETON (NBC 26) — Thursday morning, Outagamie County reported its first 'whooping cough' cases in nearly four years. The county says there have been seven in one month.
- Outagamie County reports seven cases of whooping cough since August, marking the first cases in the county since 2020
- Dr. Sharon Rink of ThedaCare warns that pertussis symptoms may start mild but can worsen into severe coughing fits, with infants being most at risk
- Health officials urge vaccination and flu shots, as both illnesses share similar symptoms, to help prevent further spread of whooping cough
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with additional details for the web)
Outagamie County has reported a rising number of whooping cough cases this month.
Lilly Wegner, the Outagamie County Public Health Nursing Supervisor, confirmed the increase.
"We currently have had seven cases since the beginning of August," Wegner said.
While other parts of the state have seen pertussis cases, this marks the first time in years that cases have surfaced in Outagamie County.
"We hadn't seen cases prior to 2024 since 2020," Wegner said. "So it's been a while since we've had any, and we just wanted people to be aware."
Wegner noted that her data doesn't account for cities with independent health departments or cases that go unreported.
"It's more like a common cold," she said. "So they might not even know they have it because oh, it's just a cold,' and they're not going to get tested."
Dr. Sharon Rink, a pediatric physician with ThedaCare in Darboy, shared more details about the symptoms.
"You just have a runny nose, cough, low-grade fever, feeling a bit ill," Dr. Rink said. "And about a week or two into the illness, the cough just takes a turn for the worst and becomes very, very frequent and very harsh."
Rink emphasized that anyone can be affected by pertussis, but infants are particularly vulnerable. She also stressed the importance of vaccination as the best way to lower the risk of infection.
"Get treated no matter where you are in your illness because that decreases the possibility of you spreading this to other people," Dr. Rink said.
Last week, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported that whooping cough cases are now 12 times higher than they were at this time last year.
