Health officials urge pertussis vaccinations
Scattered reports of the disease known as whooping cough in area schools have prompted Spokane Regional Health District officials to urge parents to update their children’s vaccinations.
Ten cases of pertussis in schoolchildren have been confirmed in the past three months, said Julie Graham, of the health district.
The highly contagious respiratory disease causes coldlike symptoms that progress to a severe cough that may linger for weeks or months. In rare cases, pertussis can cause pneumonia and death. Pertussis can be prevented through vaccination; unimmunized or partly immunized children who contract the disease have the most severe symptoms.
More than 1,000 cases of pertussis were reported in Washington in 2005, for a rate of 16.4 per 100,000 population, according to the state Department of Health. At least one death a year is attributed to the illness.
Immunization against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis are recommended for children at ages 2, 4 and 6 months, 15 to 18 months and 4 to 6 years, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Additional vaccines for adolescents ages 11 to 18 are recommended as well.
Volunteers sought for book processing
Spokane Public Schools is looking for volunteers to help process thousands of books donated to Sacajawea Middle School after an arson fire destroyed its library Sept. 9.
The gasoline-fueled fire destroyed the interior of the library and charred thousands of books used by the 900 students attending the school.
However, residents have donated thousands of books over the past month, and the school needs people to help cover them, apply barcodes and book pockets, stamp them, type spine labels or call numbers, and enter data into a computer.
Volunteers should attend training today from 9 to 10 a.m. in Room 124 at the school, 401 E. 33rd Ave. For more information, call the school librarian at (509) 354-5462.
Nine Mile Falls
Charles Road work should end today
Nine Mile Falls-area residents may have been wondering why four miles of Charles Road had become pockmarked after Spokane County worked on it.
The short answer is that the county isn’t finished yet, said Diana Sargent in the county’s engineering department.
Spokane County used a new process on the road, grinding it down and then recycling the pavement on site by mixing it with lime and oil and rolling it onto the road. The same technique was used this year on the Palouse Highway.
The new Charles Road base needed to cure for at least 10 days before final paving, said Sargent.
Now that it has cured, the county is planning to return today to pave the base.
That will take at least a couple of days, weather permitting. Drivers should expect delays and pilot cars.
Compiled from staff reports