Dear Parent or Guardian:
There has been an additional case of pertussis (whooping cough) at Larchmont Charter School in 5th grade. Your child may have been exposed. We have been in consultation with the County of Los Angeles Public Health Office and want to communicate with you right away.
Pertussis can spread through the air when people cough. It often starts like a common cold which gets worse over 1-2 weeks. People with pertussis have coughing spells that may last several seconds. As they catch their breath at the end of each coughing spell, they may gasp loudly (“whoop”) and vomit or choke.
The vaccine usually protects against pertussis, but sometimes even immunized children and adults can get pertussis. Pertussis is treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics can also prevent the spread of pertussis to others. Please confirm with your physician that your and your child’s pertussis vaccine is up to date.
The Public Health Department is working closely with our school in monitoring all students for additional pertussis cases.
Activities being implemented to help stop the spread of pertussis in school include:
- The exclusion of all confirmed pertussis cases from school until they have taken the first five days of the antibiotic.
- The request that antibiotics be taken by all babies, children, and adults living in households with someone who has pertussis.
If you or your child begin to have a cough in the next 3 weeks, please be seen by your doctor or clinic right away and take this notice with you; also contact Daniel Bellosillo, Public Health Nurse (323) 769-7813 or Acacia Blanc, PHNS, at (323)769-7891. You may also call Dr. Shobita Rajagopalan of the LA County Public Health Department at (323)769-7920 if you have any further questions. If your child has a confirmed case of whooping cough, please notify the school immediately.
Sincerely,
Dolores Patton
Head of School
