A con­firmed case of per­tus­sis (whoop­ing cough) was iden­ti­fied in a stu­dent last week, accord­ing to Ferris officials.

In a press release on Sept. 21, the uni­ver­sity had reported news of the case. It was noted in the release that the stu­dent is being treated with antibi­otics and is no longer contagious.

Birkam Health Center staff noti­fied employ­ees and stu­dents who had reg­u­lar con­tact with the stu­dent as pre­cau­tion­ary mea­sure. They will be offered a free Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) vac­cine for cau­tion­ary purposes.

Free Tdap vac­cines will be offered at Birkam Health Center dur­ing their busi­ness hours, which are 8:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, except on Thursday when the health cen­ter closes at 3:30 p.m.

Paul Sullivan, direc­tor of Birkam Health Center and Counseling Center, said per­tus­sis is a highly con­ta­gious dis­ease found only in humans and is spread through person-to-person contact.

Coughing or sneez­ing while in close con­tact with oth­ers, who breathe in the bac­te­ria, usu­ally spreads per­tus­sis. Symptoms gen­er­ally develop within seven to 10 days after being exposed, but it may also take up to six weeks for symp­toms to appear.

Early symp­toms may be sim­i­lar to those of a cold, includ­ing a runny nose, mild cough and low-grade fever.

Those whose symp­toms per­sist into vio­lent, uncon­trol­lable cough­ing should con­tact the Birkam Health Center.

Pertussis vac­cines are said to be very effec­tive in pro­tect­ing indi­vid­u­als from the disease.

There is a chance that some­one who is fully vac­ci­nated can con­tract the dis­ease. The infec­tion is usu­ally less severe for those who have been vaccinated.

To find out more infor­ma­tion about per­tus­sis, call the Birkam Health Center at ext. 2614. n