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December 19, 2003TC baby catches whooping coughMother: Now I see why shots are importantByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Most parents will never have to watch their child struggle with whooping cough. But Toni and Greg Stout did after their her 5-month-old son Connor was stricken with the rare illness. "You can't believe how terrifying it is for your child to quit breathing and turn blue," Toni Stout said. Although Connor showed signs of respiratory trouble, the Traverse City couple didn't know how serious it was until one night last month when the boy stopped breathing. "I literally slept that night with him on my chest to make sure he was breathing," Toni Stout said. "It's so quiet you don't notice until he's already in distress." After several hospital visits and an array of tests, doctors at DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids diagnosed Connor with pertussis, commonly called whooping cough for its intense, high-pitched cough. Lori Wesolowski, public health nurse with the Grand Traverse County Health Department, says the illness is more common than most realize. It can be passed to children like Connor from adults who don't even know they have it. "We typically get about two cases a year, usually in babies that haven't had all of their vaccinations yet," she said. Children aren't protected against the illness until their last round of vaccinations between the ages of 4 and 6, which generally wear off by the age of 18. While early symptoms include a low grade fever and runny nose, Wesolowski says they gradually become much more dangerous. "It's horrible," she said. "They start to get this cough and lose their ability to breathe and they can vomit while coughing." Stout says the experience has made her understand the importance of regular immunizations for Connor and her other two children, Hannah, 3, and Julia, 5. "If other parents could have seen this little boy and how sick he was, I think they also would choose to have their children immunized," she said.
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