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Saline County mother nearly loses child to Whooping Cough

The Arkansas Department of Health recently declared a Pertussis, or Whooping Cough, outbreak at Bryant Middle School.

We’ve heard a lot about childhood diseases making a comeback.

Well, Pertussis is just one of them.

The Arkansas Department of Health recently declared a Pertussis, or Whooping Cough, outbreak at Bryant Middle School.

Three kids were diagnosed with the disease.

A Saline County mother shared her child’s story involving Whooping Cough in hopes to bring awareness.

“She was just two weeks old and she coded,” said Whitney Flowers, mom to Katelyn. “We found her laying in the floor playing and she was blue."

In 2017, her 2-week-old daughter at the time was rushed to an emergency room.

"Of course they started running all types of tests,” said Flowers. Doctors diagnosed Katelyn with Whooping Cough, a highly contagious disease targeting the respiratory tract.

"In the first couple of weeks, it starts out just like a cold,” said Dr. Gary Wheeler, chief medical officer at the Arkansas Department of Health.

The disease then evolves into a continuous coughing fit that can last weeks.

“It can cause real problems,” said Wheeler. “The people we worry most about are young children, especially under the age of 1.”

Dr. Wheeler said there's a high mortality rate in children who develop Whooping Cough.

"They are either found dead at home or die of complications of the respiratory disease,” he said. Luckily, Flowers’ daughter survived, but not without complications.

Katelyn is now two years old and has hearing loss from the illness. Whitney said her daughter picked it up from someone not vaccinated.

So after hearing of the current outbreak of Whooping Cough at Bryant schools, she hopes Katelyn’s story will inspire other to get vaccinated.

"It was hard to watch. I don't want another parent to go through that. I watched my kid code twice and turn blue. I was a helpless mom.”

Doctors said children should be vaccinated and adults should too.

“Even if they had it as a child, they should get it again,” said Dr. Wheeler. “And that's a relatively new recommendation."

RELATED: Vaccines: Breaking down and debunking 10 myths

Whitney hopes parents who choose not to vaccinate their children will overcome their fears.

“I hate to use the word disability, but if you're scared that's what a vaccine causes, I would much rather my child have a so-called disability than no child at all. My child nearly died twice.”

Doctors highly recommend pregnant women and the father to get the vaccine also.

That's because they say it'll help protect their newborn long enough until they are old enough to receive their first shot.

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