BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Some parents in central Pennsylvania say they're concerned their children could catch a contagious disease from a classmate after they got a letter from their high school this week.
The nurse at Central Mountain High School stays busy caring for students who are under the weather near Mill Hall.
"Really busy. All the buildings we are seeing, flu of course, upper respiratory, cough bronchitis," said school nurse Dawn Stabley.
This week the school staff was faced with a more serious health case.
"Pertussis, whooping cough and the department of health notified us,” said Stabley.
The school sent out a letter to parents this week after it was notified a student had whooping cough, a highly contagious infection that can lead to severe coughing fits.
"If they start having a cough if the cough is persistent enough that they are throwing up or they get that whooping sound then you want to make sure your physician is aware," said Stabley.
Stabley says students are required to be vaccinated for whooping cough before entering high school.
"Kids were like talking about it, like, 'oh, this is not good' and all this stuff. Even at work they were saying they should shut down the school and stuff," said Ivy Hauser a senior at Central Mountain High School.
School district officials say the student who was diagnosed with whooping cough at this point is no longer contagious. Students are at low risk.
"One kid could turn into two kids and that just goes from there. There are a lot of kids in that school," said George Smith from Lamar.
George Smith's son is a senior at Central Mountain. His child is vaccinated. He thinks the school should still be cleaned out.
"These days you got to be careful. You got to care of, your children are very important," said Smith.
“If everybody in the school has whooping cough then you got to worry about it, but if there is one person who has it, no you don't have to worry about it," said William Novosat from Bald Eagle Township.
Stabley's recommendation to parents,
"Calm down and just relax and just watch. I'm watching here," said Stabley.
The nursing staff has shared information online and is open to answering concerns from parents.
