Nine year old girl: Whooping cough hits Whitman County

Whitman County’s health department reported the first confirmed case of whooping cough, or pertussis, in a nine-year-old girl living somewhere within the county.

Fran Martin, health department director, said people who had been in close contact with the girl had been contacted and given antibiotics.

Martin advised residents to make sure they are properly immunized against the disease.

Vaccinations for whooping cough are not lasting as long as they were expected, explaining an outbreak that has infected 185 Washington State children less than one year old and hospitalized 39 of them.

Infants, p...