1. Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course: Institution: Date:

2. The public health issue Whooping cough or better known as Pertussis is a respiratory disease that is very contagious. It is caused by a bacterium that is known as Bordetella pertussis. The disease is known for violent coughing that is uncontrollable and this coughing normally makes it very hard to breathe.

3. The population affected Whooping cough is able to affect all the ages of people but is very serious or even deadly for the babies who are less than one year old (Barham-Floreani, 2005). Whooping cough is a very serious disease that can even cause babies to stop breathing.

4. According to Herlihy & Hagood (2012) one can help to protect babies from the disease by getting the whooping cough vaccine as well as making sure also that the baby gets the vaccine too. People who have whooping cough will normally spread the disease by sneezing or coughing while they are in close contact with the others, who will then breathe the bacteria that causes the disease in.

5. When babies get whooping cough, the symptoms of the disease can be a bit serious. The young babies can acquire Pneumonia which is a lung infection as well as others which forms a large group having trouble when breathing.

6. Vaccination of whooping cough There are vaccines used in the United States that normally helps to prevent Whooping Cough. These vaccines include DTaP and Tdap. The two vaccines as well provide the protection against diphtheria and tetanus. Children who are 7 years younger will normally get DTaP while those older that this as well as adults will be given Tdap.

7. Protection to the babies Because babies can be very sick with because of the disease and can catch it from anyone who is around them, then there is need for provision of protection to the babies. There are three ways one can help protect the babies with vaccines. First, the mother who is pregnant should get vaccinated with the vaccine of Whooping cough and

8. Geographical areas affected Since the 1980’s it has been witnessed that there is rising number of reported cases of the Whooping cough disease. In the year 2010 there were cases of Whooping cough in California alone that numbered to thousands and 9 babies who were less than 6 months in their age died in California due to Whooping cough.

9. How the public health officials tackle the disease Doctors as well as the laboratories must notify the cases of Whooping cough confidentially to the local public health unit. The staff of the health unit can after the notification advice on the way to stop the spread.

10. Outbreaks and the frequency they occur Most cases of the disease normally occur in the adults whose immunity has faded away. In such like cases, the symptoms tend to be less serious although the coughing that is persistent can be unpleasant as well as being frustrating. The outbreaks of Whooping cough normally occur every 3-5 years.

11. How the disease is monitored and its proportion of cases The proportion of cases reported among infants, children, adolescents, and adults. Jurisdictions with reported pertussis cases heavily weighted toward infants are likely missing a significant proportion of pertussis disease in their community. The proportion of cases diagnosed solely with DFA or serologic assays.

12. References Barham-Floreani, J. (2005). Well adjusted babies: A chiropractic guide for wholistic parenting from pregnancy through to early childhood. Melbourne, Vic.: Vitality Productions. Herlihy, S. M., & Hagood, E. A. (2012). Your baby's best shot: Why vaccines are safe and save lives.