Latest / Look Who's Talking / Kevin Hall, Catherine Lowe, Sarah McMahan - Whooping Cough

Transcript

Kevin Hall, Catherine Lowe, Sarah McMahan - Whooping Cough · Look Who's Talking

0:00
You are listening to Look Who's Talking.
0:17
I am Cameron Minter.
0:18
I am your co-host and our fabulous Head Start director, Jessica Coffie is your host.
0:25
Hey y'all.
0:26
What's going on, Jessica?
0:27
Not much, not much.
0:29
We're just coming off of the Juneteenth holiday.
0:31
Oh yeah.
0:32
And we're back at it, Kim.
0:34
And before that, before that.
0:38
Before that it was Father's Day.
0:39
Come on, speak on it.
0:40
I hope you did something wonderful.
0:41
We have to give our fathers their props.
0:44
Did you go home?
0:45
Happy Father's Day.
0:46
Well, no.
0:47
Oh, what?
0:48
I called my dad on the phone.
0:49
Oh.
0:50
Kim, I'm not driving home for hours.
0:51
Nope, nope, nope.
0:52
Did you go home for Mother's Day?
0:53
No, I didn't.
0:54
Okay.
0:55
No.
0:56
At least you did.
0:57
See, see what I try to do is I try to, if one gets a gift for whatever day, the other
1:06
one gets a gift.
1:08
If one doesn't, the other one doesn't.
1:10
Oh really?
1:11
Wow.
1:12
I have to be fair.
1:13
Wow.
1:14
You know, I have to let them know.
1:17
You know what?
1:18
I love y'all the same.
1:19
Your parents do not listen to the show.
1:20
It is absolutely clear that they do not listen to the show.
1:24
I'm going to have to get in touch with your parents.
1:26
No, please don't.
1:27
And I'm going to pull the rug out from all these shenanigans.
1:30
No, because then I wouldn't have stories to tell.
1:33
You sure wouldn't.
1:34
You have better stories to tell.
1:37
Uh-uh.
1:38
They would have my head.
1:40
Well, I had a fantastic, fantastic Father's Day.
1:45
So tell us about your Father's Day.
1:46
Well, we, you know, my church, we meet on Sundays at two, so it makes it kind of difficult
1:53
for us to do anything on a Sunday.
1:56
So we have gotten smart and we started doing these holidays like Mother's Day and Father's
2:00
Day on Saturday.
2:03
So Saturday, oh, one of my favorite meals is meatloaf.
2:08
Really?
2:09
Girl, meatloaf.
2:10
Meatloaf.
2:11
Meatloaf.
2:12
No, no, no.
2:13
Let me be very, very clear.
2:16
My wife's meatloaf.
2:17
Okay.
2:18
See that?
2:19
See the big difference.
2:20
And so, yeah.
2:21
Does she watch the show or listen to the show?
2:24
I don't think so.
2:25
Okay.
2:26
I don't think so, but yeah, she should.
2:28
Yeah, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, stewed tomatoes, cabbage, cornbread.
2:34
That makes me think of like meals.
2:39
You ever see like the family shows back in the day?
2:43
Yeah, yeah.
2:44
I feel like they always ate meatloaf as a family.
2:47
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes.
2:48
We don't give meatloaf very often.
2:51
We don't give meatloaf very often.
2:53
So meatloaf is a special meal in your house?
2:56
It's becoming that.
2:57
Can you believe that?
2:58
I'm like, come on, man.
2:59
I want this.
3:00
But anyway, we had that wonderful meal and the girls, they were out for tears this year.
3:06
Oh, really?
3:07
Oh, they came hard trying to make us men.
3:12
So it's me, my brother-in-law, and my son.
3:16
We all celebrate Father's Day together.
3:19
And the girls, they celebrate us.
3:22
And my daughter and my wife were really sappy this year.
3:27
They was pulling for tears.
3:29
And they had like gifts like with people who had died.
3:35
That were special to you?
3:37
Yes, on shirts and hats and stuff.
3:39
And we was kind of like, oh my God.
3:42
And your own display, because you open up the gifts and everybody's looking and tears
3:47
is flowing.
3:48
I mean, it was emotional.
3:49
Now, our Christmases are really emotional.
3:51
But Father's Day for some reason was very emotional.
3:56
But we had a fantastic time.
3:57
I'm glad you had a great Father's Day.
3:59
We went outside and shot Nerf guns and water guns and corn hole and all that.
4:05
Oh, that's fun.
4:06
Yeah, it was a really good day.
4:08
Yay.
4:09
Well, happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.
4:12
Thank you.
4:13
It's a little late.
4:14
Yeah, it's late, but it's still.
4:15
So you show great honor and respect to your father by calling him.
4:20
Yes.
4:21
And I said, did you get that million dollars I gave mama to give you?
4:27
Lies you tell.
4:29
Lies you tell.
4:31
OK, I think it's time for a Coffie break.
4:43
So for today's Coffie break, you glow differently when your confidence is fueled by
4:50
belief in yourself instead of validation from others.
4:54
Basically, Cam, what I'm saying is you have to have the confidence within.
5:00
You know, I know it's great for people to give you that encouragement, but not necessarily
5:08
seeking a validation from someone else.
5:11
So important.
5:12
Knowing within you that you have what it takes to accomplish whatever you need or want.
5:18
That's right.
5:19
Because if you're seeking validation from someone else, you'll always be seeking.
5:23
Yeah.
5:24
You'll never be settled.
5:25
Yeah.
5:26
You'll always be seeking.
5:27
And it's so important to understand who you are.
5:32
You know what I'm saying?
5:33
And it's not connected to what other people think.
5:36
It's not connected to what other people want from you.
5:39
You are, you know.
5:41
And that who you are connecting with who you are.
5:45
Because I can ask you and you can be like, eh, that's not a great idea, but that's according
5:50
to you, your opinion, who you are.
5:52
That's right.
5:53
So yeah, that's a good word.
5:55
Yeah.
5:56
I just think, you know, during coffee breaks, it's looking like I want people to get connected
6:03
with themselves.
6:04
You sure are.
6:05
You are self reflecting all over the place.
6:08
Listen.
6:09
Okay.
6:10
Yeah, I know.
6:11
It's good stuff though.
6:12
It's good stuff.
6:13
This whole podcast is designed to encourage and inform our Head Start parents and give
6:21
them something, you know, to look forward to.
6:23
Right.
6:24
Hey, coffee breaks is what's doing it for me.
6:29
Maybe I'll let us know if these coffee breaks are doing anything for you.
6:31
I feel like we need to sip some coffee or something.
6:34
Yeah, I'm not a coffee drinker.
6:37
Sorry.
6:38
Oh, I can't believe that.
6:41
Well today, today we want to do things just a little bit different.
6:45
Today the Head Start highlight word of the day is validation.
6:52
Validation.
6:53
Y'all heard it here.
6:55
You know what to do.
6:57
Validation is the Head Start highlight word of the day.
7:01
I said that so seriously.
7:03
I know because you validated something.
7:05
I said that so seriously.
7:07
Yes, you did, you was like it's time to put the breaks down.
7:11
Alright, we've got a fantastic show of information today.
7:15
Yes.
7:16
Yes, we do.
7:17
What's the day show about?
7:18
So we have, this show we have the most guests we've ever had.
7:21
We have three guests.
7:22
Look at that.
7:23
But I'm going to introduce our first two guests, both from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County
7:30
Health Department.
7:32
We have Catherine Lowe, who is a registered nurse with the Health Department, and also
7:37
Kevin Hall, who is a spokesperson for the Health Department.
7:41
Welcome to the show.
7:43
Welcome to the show, you all.
7:44
How you doing?
7:45
Well, we're glad to be here.
7:47
This is a wonderful setup and a wonderful opportunity to really speak to such an important
7:51
group of caregivers.
7:53
Thank you.
7:55
So you know, Cam, I started my days at the Health Department.
7:58
Oh yeah, that's right.
7:59
I forgot.
8:00
Right after out of grad school as a WIC nutritionist.
8:04
Kevin was there when I was there and you know, I thought I was going to be, I was going to
8:09
spend a little bit of time at the Health Department.
8:12
Then I was going to become this famous nutritionist.
8:15
Right, right, right.
8:16
So I'm not famous, but I'm still here.
8:19
But we are going to be talking about, matter of fact, I want to know the proper name because
8:28
you hear whooping cough, you hear whooping cough.
8:32
What is it?
8:33
All the above.
8:34
Oh, okay.
8:35
That's, I'd never heard the whooping part of it until one of our former nurses, Lois
8:39
Davis referred to it as a whooping cough.
8:42
And it really depends where you grew up.
8:44
Right.
8:45
For me, what did your grandmother call it?
8:46
So that's really how my family is whooping cough.
8:51
Pertussis is the formal name for it.
8:54
We try to stick with it as Pertussis or we tell people whooping cough.
8:58
Part of the reason for that, and we can talk more about this as we get into this discussion
9:02
is what we're seeing here in Lexington right now, the cough isn't even present in a lot
9:07
of the cases.
9:08
Oh, wow.
9:09
The bulk of the cases, we have 32 so far, it's since April 26 in Lexington.
9:14
And to put that in perspective, the last five years before that, we had 16 total.
9:20
Oh, wow.
9:21
We have far, we've doubled what we've seen in the previous five years combined.
9:26
But what the bulk of the cases right now are people who have been vaccinated.
9:30
And so the vaccine is offering some protection in this case, and it's not giving them that
9:34
cough.
9:35
So we don't want people to hear whooping cough, think I don't have a cough, therefore I don't
9:40
have it and not get checked out.
9:42
Right.
9:43
So can we talk about what whooping cough is, some of the symptoms?
9:50
Because you said you have people who don't have the cough.
9:54
I've had a what, three week cough now.
9:56
Oh, Lord.
9:57
And I'm like, oh my goodness.
9:58
But it's bronchitis.
9:59
Let me let me say that bronchitis, allergies, asthma is it's the worst.
10:05
But give us some a little bit more detail about whooping cough.
10:09
Catherine, from the nurse perspective.
10:12
Good morning.
10:14
So some of the symptoms, you think of it as a cold, a respiratory virus, some of those
10:23
same symptoms, so a runny nose, could or could not have a cough.
10:31
If you've been vaccinated, it's less likely you'll start out with a cough.
10:37
If you do have a cough, it's usually mild.
10:41
And within two to three weeks, it turns into a high pitched severe cough.
10:47
If you're coughing so hard, you could break your ribs, low grade fever.
10:55
So if especially if you've been around someone with pertussis, you would want to get chat.
11:02
If you have symptoms for longer than two weeks, you would want to get chat.
11:09
Is this something that's primarily being in kids?
11:12
Or is it just everyone?
11:14
Well, what we're seeing right now in Lexington is that it's mostly in school aged children.
11:19
So I believe it's 30 of the 32 cases, it's either 30 of the 32 or 29 of the 32 are in
11:26
school aged children.
11:27
And the biggest reason for that is babies are getting this as part of the routine childhood
11:33
vaccination schedule.
11:35
And then it's required for entry in schools in Kentucky.
11:38
So most of the younger school kids have it and have that protection.
11:42
We do need a booster at age 11.
11:44
But this booster weakens over time.
11:47
And it's supposed to last up to 10 years.
11:49
But you're seeing it's really not lasting that long.
11:52
It's gonna be more of like five to seven years if it gets to that point.
11:56
So think about it, somebody's at 11 years old, they get the booster, they're in school
11:59
five, six, seven years later, that's so 16, 17, 18 year olds.
12:04
And that's who is getting this right now.
12:06
Now the bulk of them, I think again, 30 out of the 32 have been vaccinated.
12:10
So this is not a problem we're seeing.
12:12
This is not an outbreak that's being created by the unvaccinated, which is the first thing
12:16
people think of whenever there's a disease outbreak.
12:19
This is an outbreak that's really among people whose vaccine has gotten weaker.
12:23
And we need people to be mindful of that so they can get the booster.
12:27
Speaking of outbreak, how does the health department determine an outbreak?
12:33
This has been one that's been fascinating for me because I work in the communication
12:36
side.
12:37
We're not hearing it from our epidemiologists, it's just like being in a classroom and getting
12:41
that lesson.
12:42
So different illnesses have different thresholds for what they consider an outbreak.
12:46
So if you heard 32 cases of the flu, you wouldn't blink an eye of that.
12:50
We get that per day during flu season.
12:52
For pertussis, it's considered an outbreak when you have two or more cases that originate
12:57
from the same location.
12:58
So six weeks ago in Lexington, we had it in one high school and then a separate high school
13:03
and then a third high school.
13:05
Even though we had three or more cases, they weren't from, because they were all at individual
13:09
schools, it was an outbreak status.
13:11
As soon as we got a second case from one of those schools, that's when it went to that
13:16
alert phase.
13:17
So this whooping cough, it's something that we've already dealt with in the past and said
13:24
this is designated, this needs a vaccine.
13:29
What made us do a vaccine for whooping cough?
13:34
Katherine, do you have?
13:37
Well, it can cause, if you're not treated, it can cause brain inflammation, ear infections.
13:49
It can even cause death, especially if you're an infant under age two or under two months.
13:58
It's a percentage, I think a thousand cases every year of infants that end up in the hospital.
14:07
And so it's to prevent that, to prevent severe cases of brain inflammation, seizures, and
14:16
then worse.
14:18
So this has pretty much been under control and now we're seeing outbreaks.
14:23
I don't want to do the wrong terminology, but we're seeing outbreaks, more outbreaks
14:29
than we have in the past.
14:30
So it's time for us to get reeducated and figure out what's going on.
14:36
Right?
14:37
Yeah.
14:38
And a lot of this happened with so many different illnesses during the COVID pandemic is that
14:42
caregivers got thrown off their schedule.
14:44
So you probably have a lot of people listening who just couldn't get to a medical provider
14:49
because they, the limitations that were in place, whether it was places being closed.
14:55
And so kids got thrown off of that schedule.
14:58
So we're seeing that not only with pertussis, but all illnesses that are vaccine preventable.
15:03
In this case, in the current outbreak, it really is just showing some of the limitations
15:09
of the booster.
15:10
The booster is effective, but it's effective when it is taken in the proper timeframes.
15:14
Right.
15:15
Gotcha.
15:16
Well, we're going to take a quick break.
15:19
We'll come back and we're talking more about the whooping.
15:33
This past year has highlighted the strength of community action council.
15:37
Every day our staff works together to help families recover from this crisis.
15:41
We're educating children at home and in person, helping parents who lost their jobs and helping
15:47
households avoid eviction.
15:49
Our work at community action council has never been more important than it is right now.
15:53
So why not join us?
15:54
We have employment opportunities requiring a range of skills from entry level to advanced.
16:00
Apply online at commaction.org.
16:05
Community action councils headstart programs are now enrolling for the 24, 25 school year
16:09
in 15 counties, including Lexington.
16:12
Headstart offers high quality early childhood education for qualifying families with children
16:17
between the ages of six weeks and five years old.
16:19
Spaces are limited and filling up quickly.
16:21
So to help ensure your child receives the Headstart advantage this year, start your
16:25
application today by calling 859-233-4600 or go online at commaction.org.
16:34
That's C O M M action.
16:48
And you are listening to look who's talking and we're talking about proteosis or AKA whooping
17:11
cough.
17:12
Um, we are here with Kevin Hall, uh, from the health department who is the health department
17:17
spokesperson.
17:19
And also Sarah Mack Mahan, who we are very familiar with within our Headstart program.
17:25
She is the child care health consultant, but she is also a former policy council representative.
17:33
Thanks for being here.
17:34
Welcome to the show.
17:35
Yeah.
17:36
So before, um, the break, Kevin mentioned something that is very important.
17:42
Um, you were talking about how, um, several families kind of were behind on their immunizations
17:49
because of COVID because doctors offices were closed.
17:53
And that's something that we saw in our program.
17:56
You know, we were like, Oh my goodness, this is, you know, a Headstart requirement that
18:01
everyone is up to date on immunizations.
18:03
However, like doctors offices were closed and we couldn't get families up to date.
18:09
So, you know, it's good to know that people are, you know, trying to get those immunizations
18:15
back up.
18:16
Um, what I want to ask is how does whooping cough spread?
18:23
So I can start.
18:25
Thank you again for having me on the show.
18:27
Um, so basically it spreads very easily through coughing.
18:30
So respiratory droplets similar to a common cold or other things, the, the side effects
18:36
of what will happen though are so much more severe.
18:39
And so that's why, you know, when we say there's an outbreak and we're encouraging vaccination,
18:43
we really want to make sure people understand that even though the symptoms at the beginning,
18:48
as Katherine talked about earlier, kind of mimic that common cold, um, with you sneezing
18:53
and coughing and all that type of stuff, it actually can get much more severe, but that
18:57
doesn't happen until about three to four weeks after you kind of got those initial symptoms.
19:03
And so making sure that people understand how easily it's spread and the importance
19:08
of vaccination.
19:09
Um, as Kevin said, the, these are wearing off a bit sooner, it seems like as we're seeing
19:15
my daughter actually just got her 11 year old shots and she had to get the shot for,
19:20
uh, for pertussis.
19:22
And so I'm very glad she's protected, but I also can see how easy it was during the
19:27
pandemic for a lot of that to get this, not because people wanted to, but because we were
19:31
in unprecedented times, there was a lot going on.
19:35
And so, so I really think that this is a time for anybody who's listening to just stop and
19:39
think, have I gotten my, my shot for that?
19:43
Even if I've gotten it before as an adult, am I due for a booster?
19:47
Don't be like my mom who will say she has not gotten her since 1978 because she's scared
19:54
of it and she's scared to get a vaccination.
19:56
So I've been doing a lot of education with her too, but I know that's a common thing
20:00
is that people think if they already got it once, it's probably lasts forever.
20:05
I don't need to get a booster.
20:06
That would be me.
20:07
Yeah.
20:08
A lot of people, I wasn't thinking I needed it.
20:10
Exactly.
20:11
And so I think a lot of people get educated on that when they're pregnant or have somebody
20:15
in the family who's pregnant.
20:17
Because when I got pregnant, I had to get another vaccination for that.
20:21
And they recommended that everybody in my family that would be around my new baby also
20:26
get vaccinated.
20:27
Got you.
20:28
If I had not gotten pregnant, I'm not sure I would have known how important that vaccination
20:32
was to get a booster.
20:34
And this may not be a question for you, but like when I go to my primary, they tell me,
20:40
okay, it's time for this.
20:41
It's time for the colon.
20:42
It's time for this.
20:43
It's time for that.
20:44
Are they going to be telling me it's time for a whooping cough?
20:49
It's a great question.
20:50
And it's one, let me, let me approach the answer in a different, different direction
20:55
is that we were not, we don't think that everyone in the community needs to go out and get the
21:00
shot for this.
21:01
It's really important for, as Sarah mentioned, if you are pregnant or you're going to be
21:06
around a newborn baby, you need to get the shot.
21:09
It doesn't matter.
21:10
So if you're a grandparent and you had one grand, one grandbaby born last year, still
21:16
go ahead and get the shot.
21:18
They're telling people every time there's pregnancy to get it.
21:22
If you are in one of the high risk groups.
21:24
So again, that's going to be the children, but they're already getting as part of their
21:28
routine, senior adults.
21:30
So people who are 60 and older really need to be mindful of this and anybody with an
21:35
under the compromised immune system.
21:37
So an underlying condition, so heart long issues, which really covers a lot of people
21:41
here in Kentucky.
21:44
But if you are an otherwise healthy adult or you really just don't need to run to your
21:49
primary care provider and say, Hey, do I need to get the shot?
21:52
That's just, you're unlikely to have the complications from it.
21:56
And honestly, the people who are the most at risk from the complications are as Sarah
22:01
and Catherine have mentioned, it's the very young members of our community.
22:04
It's the kids.
22:06
And let's talk about the young members, childcare, those types settings.
22:10
What are some ways that they can either take preventative measures in their centers or
22:18
give families, you know, just some tips on how to prevent.
22:25
Sure.
22:26
So just to explain a little bit about our program with childcare health consultation,
22:31
I go in to childcare centers, I cover 12 counties and I go in and I teach things.
22:36
One of the number one things I teach is diapering, disinfecting and hand washing.
22:42
Just disinfecting properly and sanitizing and washing your hands, also covering your cough.
22:48
All those little kind of basic things are what makes such a difference within a childcare
22:53
center to keep things from spreading within it.
22:56
And I always tell people when I'm teaching the staff during class, you know, if you learn
23:01
how to wash your hands correctly, because everyone thinks they wash their hands correctly
23:05
till they take my class.
23:06
Oh, I wasn't washing my hands correctly.
23:10
But we make it fun.
23:11
We do a little game with it with glow germ powder.
23:13
I'd be happy to do that sometime for the show if anyone wants to see what that looks like.
23:18
But yeah, so when they model that good hand washing behavior, that good cough covering,
23:25
all that kind of stuff that is going to keep their center much healthier.
23:29
And then kids being kids, especially they love to go home and teach something that they've
23:34
learned that they catch their parent or grandparent or whoever not doing correctly.
23:39
And so that's a good opportunity if you teach them and they're like, now make sure you know
23:43
when you go home, watch and see if everybody's doing it correctly.
23:47
And they can then it just spreads out into this big public health thing, where you're
23:51
preventing things all throughout the community, just within your childcare center and branching
23:56
out from there to the families.
23:58
So you said before that is not labeled an outbreak until you've get multiple in one
24:04
site.
24:05
So when you find that site, what do you what do you all do?
24:09
Or is there any protocol after you know, we've found an outbreak in the site?
24:15
Yeah, it was we really caught a break here in Lexington that school was in session when
24:20
this started.
24:22
It's both good and bad that the summer was two weeks away when this really happened.
24:26
The bad of it is that you lose that communication with the caregivers because what happens in
24:32
the schools, they can send letters out to put it on the infinite campus or put letters
24:36
in backpacks, however they want to get that message.
24:40
The good part of the summer, though, is that the kids are outdoors.
24:43
So it's going to be a little harder to spread it than when you're walking down the hallway
24:47
with people.
24:48
So what we we work really closely with Fayette County Public Schools, we work really closely
24:52
with the private schools here in Lexington.
24:55
And so we when we knew there was the first case, it was immediately notifying the proper
25:01
people at the school system, working with each individual school to provide information.
25:06
Because what we've also learned is not just putting a blanket of information out and just
25:09
saying we hope people get it.
25:11
It's then doing an investigation.
25:13
Was this child involved in extracurricular activities?
25:15
Were they testing time of year?
25:18
Were they at PSATs, SATs, ACTs, any sort of additional testing, making sure that who else
25:26
could have been exposed from this?
25:28
And then if they were, say that they were on an academic team or in band, it's getting
25:32
specific messaging to those caregivers and those leaders in the school system as well.
25:37
You run the risk of overdoing it.
25:39
You don't want to provide too much to where it gets tuned out.
25:42
But when you can really pinpoint to people who are at the highest risk of exposure, then
25:47
you can really you can get that concentrated messaging.
25:50
Got you.
25:51
Are there any requirements on like say if it is in a child development center, sanitizing,
25:59
having cleaners come in, what's that process?
26:02
So we don't have a specific thing for what they have to do as far as having cleaners
26:06
come in.
26:07
But we would definitely recommend if you're seeing an outbreak within your center, a center
26:12
is its own business and they kind of decide about shutting down and taking a day off where
26:17
they would do a deep clean like that.
26:19
But we definitely recommend if not taking a day off, at least making sure after hours
26:24
you are really disinfecting everything.
26:27
And that comes down to making sure the contact times are right on your disinfecting products,
26:32
which is something a lot of people miss both at home and at childcare is some of these
26:36
newer products, especially the more natural ones require a 10 minute contact time to disinfect
26:41
a surface.
26:42
So compared to a lot of the bleaches and stuff which have taken more like two to five minutes
26:47
and they have to sit on there.
26:49
Sitting on there or staying wet to kill all the germs.
26:52
So just making sure and that's where they can always reach out to me and Catherine through
26:57
CCHC, both childcare centers and parents, we answer questions for both all the time
27:04
related to that.
27:05
Oh, perfect.
27:06
Perfect.
27:07
So can you tell our guests what is your contact information if they do have questions for
27:13
you?
27:14
Yes, they are welcome to contact me and I will have it written out if you guys want
27:18
to put it up later.
27:20
But it's sarahb.mcmahan at LFCHD.org.
27:32
I can also throw in one that will make it a little easier for people to remember that
27:37
too or they can send something to LFCHD at LFCHD.org and it can get forwarded to Sarah
27:43
or the appropriate people.
27:45
That would be much easier.
27:48
He's the media guy.
27:49
I'm sitting here like, oh, this has got to be an easier way.
27:53
One thing I want to jump because I thought you were going to ask this about when the
27:57
outbreak starts and I think this is a really important thing for people.
28:01
You're going to hear about whooping cough throughout the summer and probably into the
28:05
fall because just like there's specific criteria to go into an outbreak status, there's specific
28:11
things that have to get met to get out of outbreak status.
28:14
In order for this current outbreak to be considered over, it's zero cases reported in 42 days.
28:24
We could go 41 days, have one new case and then it continues.
28:31
We are likely to be in this for a while.
28:33
We may see six cases one week.
28:36
We may see two cases one week.
28:37
We're anticipating though that count to continue to grow because what we are also learning
28:42
is people are listening to programs like this, they're being mindful.
28:45
Oh, I thought I had to have a cough for this.
28:47
I should go, I've been sick for three weeks.
28:49
Let me go get tested for it.
28:51
Ask for it for their provider and then they're testing positive for pertussis.
28:55
So it's a cycle.
28:56
They learn more about it and then they get asked to get tested and test positive, which
29:01
is a good thing because the sooner you find out you're positive for it, the sooner you
29:05
can get on antibiotics to get treated.
29:07
But then it's also it keeps you from going out in public or around others and potentially
29:12
spreading this and making it an even larger outbreak.
29:15
Absolutely.
29:16
That's some great information.
29:17
Is there anything going on with you all this summer?
29:22
You all doing any outreach activities, anything going on besides taking care of this whooping
29:28
cough?
29:30
One of the big things we'll have is if you go to any of the Lexington Farmers markets,
29:34
we will be at different locations throughout the summer.
29:36
Our WIC program will be there.
29:37
So if you're a WIC participant, please stop by to find out how you can use those benefits
29:42
toward fresh produce.
29:43
Or if you just want to learn more about the WIC program, Women, Infants and Children.
29:48
So we'd be happy to help you out.
29:50
Sounds great.
29:51
Thank you all so much for what you do.
29:53
Coming on the show and giving our Head Start parents a wonderful, informative show.
30:02
All right, you have been listening to Look Who's Talking.
30:08
We appreciate you sharing the show.
30:10
We appreciate you telling other people about it.
30:13
We will see you when we see you.