Three Stevenson High School students have been diagnosed with pertussis, also called “whooping cough,” according to the Lake County Health Department Communicable Disease Division. One of the students was in attendance at the Homecoming Dance on Saturday, Sept. 21.
Pertussis is a highly contagious bacteria spread easily by coughing and sneezing. Those with pertussis are most contagious at the start of symptoms (such as runny nose and mild cough) and for the next two weeks.
Read the letter from the Lake County Health Department
Students who have had a persistent cough recently should be taken to their medical provider for evaluation. Parents and guardians should tell the doctor that pertussis has been reported at Stevenson, and to report a possible pertussis infection to the school’s nurses.
If your student was seen by a medical provider and pertussis was suspected, please keep her or him at home for the first five days of the correct antibiotic treatment for pertussis, or until test (naso-pharyngeal) results are known.
If you have any questions or concerns, call your student’s medical provider or the Stevenson nurses office at 847-415-4000, extension 4025, 4028, 4019 or 4039.