CEDAR RAPIDS – Linn County Public Health is investigating cases of whooping cough as numbers double from previous years.

“We’ve had a number of additional cases this week,” Director Curtis Dickson said Friday, Nov. 12. “It’s a growing concern.”

Dickson said annually, the county typically has seven to 10 cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis.

“We’re probably seeing almost twice that right now,” he said, though the exact numbers were still unknown.

Marion Superintendent Sarah Pinion said doctors confirmed that two students at Francis Marion Intermediate School have whooping cough.

Parents were notified in a letter Thursday to be on the lookout for any symptoms.

Maintenance staff did extra cleaning in the fourth and fifth grade levels, she said.

Dickson said the best prevention is vaccination.

Children receive the pertussis vaccine in a series of five shots beginning at 2 months old.

Adults may not realize they have the disease because symptoms can mimic the common cold.

Booster shots for adults are combined with tetanus shots and should be given every 10 years, Dickson said.

So far this year, 427 cases of whooping cough have been reported to the Iowa Department of Public Health, compared to 207 at the same time last year.

Babies and the elderly are at particular risk from the disease, which can cause coughing spells so severe it can be difficult for infants to eat, drink or breathe.

Symptoms include:

- a  runny nose and irritating cough;

- uncontrollable coughing spells;

- trouble catching breath after coughing;

- high-pitch cough produced while gasping for air;

- coughing fits at night, sometimes followed by vomiting. Patients may appear well between coughing fits.