Health Advisories provided by Marla Koroly, MD
Chief Medical Officer of Northern Westchester Hospital

There are no additional health advisories at this time.

November 18, 2010 – New York State Dept. of Health reports an increase in pertussis.

The best way to prevent pertussis among infants, children, teens, and adults is to get vaccinated. Since the introduction of pertussis vaccines, pertussis disease in the US has been reduced by greater than 80% compared with the prevaccine era. Individuals should be vaccinated according to the current recommendations for tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (DTaP or Tdap), which have been recently updated in October 2010. The NYSDOH is asking healthcare providers to consider pertussis when seeing patients with clinically compatible illness, and to immediately report suspect cases to the local health department and institute appropriate infection control measures. For more information, please contact your healthcare provider or the Center for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pertussis/default.htm