Whooping cough cases confirmed at local school; Montgomery County approaching 100 cases for the year

HUBER HEIGHTS — A Miami Valley High School is dealing with whooping cough.

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Ohio led the country in whooping cough cases last year, with more than 600. Public health officials shared that 185 of those cases were in Montgomery County and that they’ve seen 81 through July 2024.

Now, the county has two more cases and they’re at Wayne High School in Huber Heights.

Dan Suffoleto, Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County’s public information officer, said the infection is common for people to get throughout the winter, but can be dangerous for young babies.

“There is a vaccine for this,” he said.

Outside of vaccines, healthy habits can make all the difference.

“You can try to practice hygiene as best you can in terms of washing your hands frequently with soap and water,” Suffoleto said. “Try to avoid sick people if you can to the extent you can.”

As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30, he added it’s sometimes hard to tell if a sickness is just allergies or something serious, but to always air on the side of caution.

“They don’t seem really sick, but they have the sniffles and they’re coughing and you don’t know what it is. That’s where you’re in a situation where you don’t know what it is. So you want to get that diagnosed,” he said.

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