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Dear Members of the Lee Avenue Learning Community:
This afternoon, the Nassau County Department of Health notified the district that a Lee Avenue student has been diagnosed with a positive case of pertussis. Pertussis is an infection that affects the airways and is easily spread from person to person by coughing or sneezing. As a result, we are notifying the entire Lee Avenue learning community. Vaccination provides protection against infection. However, if pertussis is circulating in the community, even a fully vaccinated person could catch the illness. Its severe cough can last for weeks or months, sometimes leading to coughing fits and/or vomiting. Anyone can get pertussis, but it can be very dangerous for infants and people with weakened immune systems. Family members with pertussis, especially mothers, can spread pertussis to newborns.
Recommendations:
1. If your child has a cough:
· Keep your child home from school and activities, such as sports or play groups. See items 4 and 5 for when your child can resume these activities.
· Make an appointment with your child’s doctor as soon as possible, and tell the doctor that your child may have been exposed to pertussis.·
2. If your child has been told by a doctor that they have a weakened immune system, ask your child’s doctor to prescribe antibiotics to your child as soon as possible to prevent pertussis. Antibiotics should be given to a child with a weakened immune system if they may have been exposed to pertussis, even if he or she is not coughing.
3. If your child lives with any of the following people and may have been exposed to pertussis, ask your child’s doctor to prescribe antibiotics to your child as soon as possible, even if he or she is not coughing:
· A pregnant woman,
· An infant younger than 12 months old, or
· Anyone with a weakened immune system.
If your child has been diagnosed with pertussis by his or her doctor:
· Tell the school that your child has been diagnosed with pertussis.
· School officials may request that you keep your child home from school and activities, such as sports or playgroups, until your child has been on antibiotics for five days to treat pertussis.
· Ask your child’s doctor for a note that states your child has pertussis.
If your child’s doctor says your child does NOT have pertussis:
· Ask for a note from the doctor telling the school that your child’s cough is NOT pertussis and that your child can return to school and other activities at any time.
Please make sure your family’s vaccinations are up-to-date. Protection against pertussis from the childhood vaccine, DTaP, decreases over time. Older children and adults, including pregnant women, should get a pertussis booster shot called “Tdap” to protect themselves and infants near or around them. If you need the Tdap vaccine, contact your doctor or health care provider. If you bring your child to a doctor for pertussis, please bring the attached “Dear Healthcare Provider” letter with you. This letter contains recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding managing exposure to pertussis. We have also attached the DOH fact sheet to provide additional information.
If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact our Nurse Coordinator, Amy Siegenthaler (Office: 516-733-2149 / Cell: 516-368-1026), or our Lee Avenue Nurse Maria Misiano-Ippolito (516-733-2355). The Nassau County Health Department can be reached at 516-227-9697.
Sincerely,
Theodore Fulton, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
NASSAU COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Dear Healthcare Provider:
Your patient may have been exposed to pertussis.
For Exposed Patients without Symptoms:
As a precaution to protect vulnerable individuals, we are recommending antibiotic prophylaxis for this patient if he or she shares a household with a woman who is pregnant or an infant less than 12 months old. Alternatively, this patient is being referred to you because he or she has an immunodeficiency or lives with a person with an immunodeficiency and may require antibiotic prophylaxis to help prevent pertussis.
For Exposed Patients with Symptoms:
As Nassau County Department of Health (NCDOH) continues to work with New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we have developed the
following guidelines for assessing and treating patients at this time:
For patients coughing <21 days:
1. Collect nasopharyngeal swabs or aspirate for pertussis PCR testing and/or culture.
2. Do not delay treatment with appropriate antibiotics while waiting for laboratory results if there is if no alternative diagnosis.
3. Document and communicate all clinical decisions related to pertussis to the school (this includes children for whom pertussis has been ruled out).
4. Strongly consider antibiotic prophylaxis for all household members if a pregnant woman, an infant less than 12 months old, or anyone with a weakened immune system lives in the household.
For patients coughing ≥21 days:
1. Testing for pertussis is not recommended. Testing after 3 weeks of cough is of limited benefit since PCR and culture are only sensitive during the first 2-3 weeks of cough when bacterial DNA is still present in the nasopharynx.
2. Treatment is no longer necessary after 21 days, with the following exception: infants and pregnant women in their third trimester should be treated up through 6 weeks after cough onset.
3. The patient is no longer infectious and can return to school.
100 COUNTY SEAT DRIVE, MINEOLA, NEW YORK 11501
Phone: 516-227-9639 Fax: 516-227-9669
For all households: Administer Tdap vaccine to contacts 11 years and older who have not been previously vaccinated with Tdap, or refer for vaccination.
Additional clinical and laboratory guidance may be found on the CDC website:
http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis
Should you have any questions or concerns, please call Nassau County Department of Health (NCDOH)
Bureau of Communicable Disease Control at 516-227-9639.
Sincerely,
Theresa Cafiero
Public Health Nurse
Nassau County Department of Health