HAYS, Kan. – Tuberculosis, measles and influenza appeared to be inescapable during each of their times of supremacy in the past. Then, a vaccine for each appeared to prevent each disease.

However, with whooping cough, also known as Bordatella Pertussis (or just Pertussis), the vaccines are being proven to have age failure, as Fort Hays State University students are becoming faced with its obscurity.

At the current time, three FHSU students have been diagnosed with Pertussis, and the Student Health Center is trying to be ahead of the illness.

“We don’t wish to create an overreaction, just awareness,” Patti Scott, director of the Student Health Center, said. Still, she said these are the first cases of Pertussis in her 20 years of work here.

Scott said the first thing to do is realize the symptoms.

Coughing where you cannot catch your breath, coughing until you vomit or having a whooping sound when you cough are the clinical guidelines for Pertussis. If you have these symptoms, it is recommended that you seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Scott said, “You have those people that have these coughs thinking, ‘This is just a really bad cold.”

“Your cough can stay for up to six months,” she said. “Sometimes it’s been too long [before you recognize you have it] and you can’t tell.” She said the effects of the disease can cause depression and many other struggles.

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