EPHRATA, Wash. (AP) — Grant County public health officials say one of two county infants diagnosed with whooping cough has died in a Seattle hospital. County Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny says the second child is recovering at home.
Health officials say the unidentified child died Tuesday night at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The official cause of death was not immediately available.
Grant County Health District officials say they are working closely with health care providers and anyone exposed to the infected children. They say no connection between the two cases has been identified.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say infants and children with the disease cough violently until they’re forced to inhale with a loud “whooping” sound. In roughly 1 in 100 cases, whooping cough, or pertussis, can be deadly, especially in infants.
