Cynwyd Elementary Student Has Whooping Cough

A first-grader at was diagnosed with pertussis (whooping cough) on Thursday, Montgomery County Health Department and Lower Merion School District officials announced Friday.

The student's identity has not been released. Health department spokeswoman Harriet Morton said via e-mail, "The student is being treated with the appropriate antibiotics. There was no hospitalization."

Cynwyd Elementary sent a health department letter home with every student Friday, district spokesman Doug Young said, notifying parents of the diagnosis and recommending they watch for symptoms over the next two weeks. A call to Cynwyd parents was also planned for 3:45 p.m. Friday.

Symptoms include violent coughing fits and runny noses, according to the health department. Any child developing cold symptoms after having had contact with a pertussis patient should be seen by a doctor, and the child should be vaccinated if he or she has not already been.

Children under 7 are most at risk. Pertussis is spread through close contact with someone coughing, sneezing or suffering from a runny nose.

The school district announced the situation on its Web site and on Twitter Friday afternoon, sharing the health department letter and a pertussis fact sheet. Both PDF documents are attached to this article.

Thursday's diagnosis is the district's third case confirmed by the health department this school year, Young said, though the true number of cases is closer to 10.

Cynwyd Elementary has approximately 478 students.