WNEG-TV

HALL COUNTY - The Public Health Department is reminding Georgians to get vaccinated for pertussis, also known as "whooping cough." Cases are extremely high in California where the state has called it an epidemic. South Carolina's cases are also on the rise. 

So far, infections among Georgians are about the same as last year, and Dave Palmer says that's partly because of Georgia's commitment to vaccinating the most high risk group, children. Palmer says, "Georgia has done a fairly good job of making sure that children are immunized because most school systems require those immunizations before they'll let children come to school."  

Palmer says in most cases children get the disease from adults, which is why he stresses the importance of getting vaccinated again. He says, "Pertussis is cyclical so about every three to five years, resistance to the illness does go down."

Palmer describes pertussis as having symptoms similar to a cold that leads to a "persistent cough that gets worse and worse until you have coughing spasms, and those spasms can be so bad that all the air is expelled from your lungs, and then when you inhale it will sound like a whooping sound."

He says adults can get vaccinated for a small administrative fee, and that vaccination will protect against pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus.