In response to what the Santa Clara Public Health Department is calling an "outbreak" of pertussis at Paly, many students and teachers will recieve vaccinations on campus tomorrow.
Paly students were first alerted to being exposed to pertussis, a bacterial disease otherwise known as whooping cough, in an Oct. 16 flier sent home with them. Over the past month, three additional notices followed the original handout as pertussis spread on campus.
"The pertussis issue is a killer," said Preeva Tramiel, president of the Parent Teacher Student Association Board. "We’re very concerned about it."
Beth Davis, the contact for Palo Alto Unified School District in the county’s Public Health Department said, "There is a concentration at Paly of pertussis cases, and now we’re trying to control it,"
The notices mailed to parents included guidelines on the treatment of an infected person with pertussis. People are supposed to take antibiotics and be quarantined for five days, according to Davis, because that is how long it takes for the antibiotics to work.
"We know it’s hard for students to stay home for five days, but nevertheless the guidelines are the only way to keep it [pertussis] isolated," PAUSD head nurse Linda Lenoir said.
In addition to recommending treatment, the PAUSD will take preventative measures with the help of Public Health. According to Davis, after using its relationship between the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and PAUSD to discern that there was an outbreak of pertussis at Paly, Public Health advised the Paly nurses and administration on how to curb the spread of pertussis.
"Whooping cough is a reportable disease, therefore if a doctor knows someone has it, they are supposed to report it to Public Health," Davis said. By this information, "we found a lot of people with it [pertussis] in the same place [Paly]."
Both Lenoir and Paly nurse Terri Weber believe an effective relationship between the PAUSD, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and Public Health is essential.
"There are a few things that can be done to prevent the spread of whooping cough," Davis said. "Get vaccinated, keep the contagious people away from everyone else for five days, and if you know for sure you’ve been exposed to the illness within your household, you can get prophyalxis, or preventative antibiotics."
"Hopefully it [the free vaccinations] will curb any future number of cases," Assistant Principal Katya Villalobos, said.
The procedure for Nov. 15 is basic, according to Davis.
"For our part, we screen everyone who comes in. They have to have the [parent] consent form and we also make sure there is no reason for them not to have the vaccine," Davis said. "Afterwards we note the date and vaccine down on their immunization record."
Villalobos is unsure as to how many people will want the vaccine on Wednesday. If there are more than 300 people, she hopes for a second day of immunizations. Unfortunately, Public Health can only provide vaccinations on one day, according to Davis. So it is on a "first-come, first-served" basis.
Davis believes that the outbreak of pertussis occurred because the pertussis vaccine administered to infants wears off around the age of 11 or 12 years of age. As a result, a new pertussis vaccine was licensed in the spring of 2005. This new vaccine, which is generally paired with a diphtheria and tetanus vaccine, is what Public Health will be using on Wednesday.
"Initially when the first vaccine came out a long time ago, there was a decrease in the number of pertussis cases," Davis said. "Over the last 20 years, however, it [the number of cases] started to creep up again."
Even though this vaccination is recommended, it is not required.
"While schools have regulations, we can unfortunately only recommend vaccinations," Davis said. "You can’t force people to get a vaccine."
Public Health, PAUSD, and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation can only do so much. The rest is up to the patients.
"We’re hoping that the students and staff will take advantage of that [the free vaccines offered on Wednesday]" Weber said.