Another outbreak of whooping cough is troubling parents — and kids — in east-central Iowa. Linda Rosenburger is director of the Tama County Health Department. She says the outbreak started in the South Tama School System at the end of April and has continued to progress with 14 cases now confirmed. Rosenburger says most of the cases are at South Tama Middle School but there was also a one-year-old diagnosed with the disease. She says any child who has been exposed to whooping cough should be treated as a precaution. Rosenburger says 2005 has been a record-setter for whooping cough in her area and on a wider scale.She says this year has been the largest outbreak in 50 years. Symptoms include a persistent, hard cough that lasts more than a week along with cold-like symptoms.
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