According to local public health officials, a large outbreak of whooping cough has emerged in southeastern Wisconsin.

Jennifer Daniel, epidemiologist with the Dane County Public Health Department, said the number of confirmed cases increases daily and there are now over four times more confirmed cases than last year. As of Wednesday, Dane County confirmed 117 cases, while 38 others remain probable.

The Public Health Department of the city of Madison has seen about 90 cases this year, although officials could only estimate the number of actual incidents.

“The numbers are changing hourly,” Judy Aubey, Madison Public Health Nursing Supervisor, commented.

Epidemiologist Craig Roberts of University Health Services said the incidence on the University of Wisconsin campus is more than usual. Since the beginning of the semester, UHS confirmed several student cases each week, with several additional unconfirmed occurrences. Roberts says they have been seeing more and more over the years, but this year especially because of the peak of the typical four-year cycling of the disease.

Health officials are urging individuals who have had the whooping cough symptoms for one to two weeks to seek medical help.

“The important message for students is that if you have the infection and are currently being treated, stay home and away from class and work for five days to minimize the exposure to others during this time,” Roberts said. “For those who are unsure, take the typical public health measures of covering your mouth when you cough and always [washing] your hands after using the bathroom and before eating.”

While traditionally thought of as an old-fashioned disease of the early or mid-1900s, its incidence has risen the last few decades. According to the Center for Disease Control, Wisconsin currently ranks second in the nation for disease incidence rate at 27.7 cases per 100,000 individuals.

Whooping cough is a highly communicable infectious disease caused by an invasion of the respiratory tract by the bacteria Bordatella pertussis. It is typically manifested in children and often leads to spasms of severe coughing, leaving the individual gasping for breath, making a whoop sound and even vomiting from the severe cough.

The disease begins with cold-like symptoms such as congestion or runny nose, a slight fever and a mild cough. These symptoms continue for one to two weeks until the disease progression causes coughing spells lasting for months if untreated.

Children are usually immunized with the vaccine against pertussis. Unfortunately, this vaccine is only approved for children under seven years old. According to Daniel, the vaccine’s effects wane after about ten years, leaving individuals more susceptible to the disease.

“Unfortunately, many of us develop hypersensitivity to the pertussis vaccine later in life and so adults still get infected, often to a lesser degree, but are still able to spread the disease to children,” William Weidanz, UW Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, said.

Weidanz stressed the magnitude of preventability of the severe disease in children through immunization. According to Weidanz, it is important to realize the various components of the problems surrounding the disease incidence.

First, adults are getting infected with pertussis and may be passing the disease on to un-immunized children. Furthermore, Weidanz commented the disease is very dangerous in unimmunized children and an infection could possibly lead to death. Notably, the public must increase their awareness of the disease so they can determine when it is worthwhile to contact a physician.

According to the CDC, the disease can occur among individuals of any age, regardless of vaccination status, although infants less than a year old without the vaccination are more likely than adolescents and adults to have severe disease complications. Some of these complications include pneumonia, dehydration or nutritional problems related to vomiting and neurological problems such as seizures. Hospitalization is the most common result of the disease in infants, sometimes leading to death in the unimmunized child.