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Are you concerned about the spread of whooping cough?
PORTLAND – More cases of whooping cough are turning up in Oregon, after Washington reached into its emergency funds last week to try and help contain an epidemic there.
Related: Wash. adds money for whooping cough vaccines
Portland’s Riverdale School District sent out an email Saturday to let parents know that two students and a high school staff member had been diagnosed with whooping cough.
“We recently received information that a fourth grade student, sixth-grade student and a high school staff person in our district have been diagnosed with pertussis,” the letter read.
The principals from both schools said they wanted to be sure that everyone in the Riverdale community knew about the illnesses.
"It is refreshing to know that parents do report because they're concerned about other families and making sure that everybody's prepared for situations like that," Riverdale High School Interim Principal Al Fitzpatrick told KGW. "We as a community need to be proactive."
The district advised parents with questions or concerns to contact school nurses.
Click here for more on pertussis from The Mayo Clinic
As of last week there were 156 cases of whooping cough reported in Oregon, up from 84 cases within the same period a year ago.
In Washington the number has increased nearly tenfold since last year. There were 117 cases by this time last year, compared to 1,132 cases confirmed so far this year.
(Colette Wieland contributed to this report)
