Thursday, August 23, 2012

HEALTH - Washington State, Whooping Cough Epidemic

"As Whooping Cough Rebounds in U.S., Infants at Greatest Risk" PBS Newshour 8/22/2012

Excerpt

GWEN IFILL (Newshour): ....the troubling return of an old disease that can be deadly to the youngest of children.

NewsHour health correspondent Betty Ann Bowser reports.

BOY: Whooping cough shots!

BOY: Whooping cough!

BETTY ANN BOWSER: In Washington State, whooping cough is now something to stand on the corner and shout about, because the state is in the grips of the worst epidemic in half-a-century.

Health officials in Everett are so concerned that on a recent Tuesday night they held a free clinic to get as many people vaccinated as possible. Whooping cough's official name is pertussis, but whatever you call it, the disease is making a comeback across the country.

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