Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a serious bacterial infection that occurs mostly in infants and young children. Caused by a bacterium, it is characterized by paroxysms (intense fits or spells) of coughing that end with a characteristic whoop as air is inhaled. The coughing spells are quite intense and prolonged and may cut off a child's air supply while they last. The coughing spells last up to 10 weeks or more, the disease has been called "The 100 day cough".

The rates of pertussis (whooping cough) have been increasing dramatically across the country. In 2009 there were 17,000 cases in the US. This year California public health officials have declared pertussis an epidemic in that state with 4,223 reported cases already this year (the most they have seen in more than 50 years). In the US there is an average of 8 deaths per year from pertussis; however California has already reported 9 deaths this year (data from the rest of the country is not yet available).

Pertussis can be prevented with a vaccine (DTaP) given at 2, 4, 6 and 15 months of age with a booster at 4 years. We have recently learned that even with a full series of DTaP vaccines the immunity will wear off in many young adults. Therefore it is now recommended that all adolescents get another booster (TDaP) and anyone who works in the healthcare industry or is around young children (such as parents and grandparents) also get this booster shot.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study in August documenting that nearly one in five American teens, some 6.5 million youngsters, suffer from hearing loss.  This is about a 30% increase over the levels found about 15 years ago.  The study found that in the majority of cases the hearing loss was slight, girls were less likely to have it than boys, and that it was more common in teens living below the poverty line.  Although this study did not try to identify the cause, the effects of noise exposure (such as use of high volumes in ear buds and other personal audio devices) on hearing loss in adolescents is being investigated, to determine reasons for the spike in hearing-impaired US teens and identify risk factors that can be changed to prevent hearing loss.  Children with even mild hearing loss can develop impaired speech and language development, which can go on to affect their educational achievement and emotional development.  All teenagers should have annual testing of their hearing either through a self reported screening questionnaire to identify possible hearing problems or objective testing, such as the OAE hearing screening we conduct at Performance Pediatrics.

Children's Hospital Boston's Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research (CeASAR) has launched teen-safe.org, a website designed to offer parents both medical and practical information about the dangers of teen drinking and drug use, and offers tips on how to prevent drinking and substance abuse among their own teenage children.

Hosted by John Knight, MD, and Sion Harris, PhD, CPH, the program has already been adopted by the Milton public school system, which is making the website required homework... for parents.

Even if you're not the parent of a teen, teen-safe.org offers practical data on underage drinking and drug abuse for all parents, year round.