August 30th/ whooping cough vaccine

Soon most of the schools will be back in session and along with that come the expected coughs and colds.
Today we saw several cases of hand/foot/mouth.
It isn't going wild yet, but every season when I see these first couple of cases I always expect the dozens to come along soon.
We saw several cases of strep throat as well as many ear infections today.
Several parents called about their children with "Mystery rashes". The kids are not terribly bothered, and they don't have fevers, so we will do the wait and see approach.
Lots of parents are checking in about the whooping cough outbreak.
We start vaccinating the children against this as early as 6 weeks. The vaccine is the DTaP. D=diptheria T= tetanus P=Pertussis. Pertussis is another name for whooping cough.
To complicate things further, our DTaP is generally given as part of a combination vaccine called Pentacel.
If you are following the standard vaccination schedule your baby is protected.
They usually get the initial series at 2, 4 and 6 months. The first booster is given at 1 year. One more booster is given between 4-6 years.
We strongly suggest that all parents and caregivers get the adult version of the shot called the TDaP. This will give tetanus protection as well.

~Stay well
Nurse Judy