On Nov. 13, McCallum families opened their online inboxes to a message from Principal Andy Baxa containing the news of a confirmed case of whooping cough on the school campus. Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, presents in numerous ways ranging from a runny nose to a low-grade fever accompanied by an occasional cough. Pertussis spreads through airborne particle droplets that are transmitted by coughing and sneezing. Although the highly contagious disease has had lower infection rates compared to historic numbers due to vaccine developments, lessened immunity has widened across the country due to Americans receiving less booster immunizations. As a result, the past few years have seen significant increases in infection rates with 2024 having five times the amount of infection than the year prior.
Although the whooping cough case at McCallum was recorded during the 2025 school year, the community has been affected before classes were in session. McCallum special education evaluator Leanne Johnson had an experience with the disease within her own family when her son was infected over the 2024 summer and experienced the symptoms brought on by pertussis to the full extent.
“During summer 2024, my current 12th grader at McCallum had whooping cough,” Johnson said. “He had been vaccinated as a child but he had no boosters to my knowledge. We have no clue where he came from as it started several weeks after school let out.”
Johnson described her son’s experience as follows.
“The first episode happened when he was sleeping,” she said. “He came into my room just terrified as he couldn’t breathe, and he was just gasping for breath. It seemed like it lasted forever but it was probably only a minute. All I could do was try to calm him and encourage him to breathe. We had to just wait it out. I felt like I couldn’t leave the house because I didn’t want my son to have an episode without me.”
Although the experience within Johnson’s family took place over a year ago, the disease is still present in the community, and prior to the whooping cough case at McCallum, Lamar Middle School experienced an outbreak of at least 10 cases. Lamar, being the main feeder school into McCallum, presents a large opportunity for pertussis to spread across the two school communities. When the first case appeared at Lamar, McCallum principal Andy Baxa wasn’t surprised.
“We have such a tight knit community,” Baxa said. “A lot of our kids have siblings at Lamar, and the way whooping cough is spread is highly contagious and through airborne transmission. So it’s one of those things, once you see it coming, you’re just kind of wondering when the first one will show up here.”
Once the first case appeared at McCallum, the first thing that Principal Baxa and the rest of McCallum faculty took to stop the spread were basic precautions along with communicating the information with the community. Although the entire student body and parents received a mass communication email, the administration took steps to reach out to under vaccinated students and their families to spread awareness of their susceptibility.
“Once someone has been infected we try to notify the community, making sure we check our vaccination records,” Baxa said. “We send messages, especially to the students who are under vaccinated. The best way you can protect yourself is keeping up on your shots.”
Every student at McCallum has their vaccinations on record, but the teaching faculty do not. Their vaccinations are not tracked with the district, but according to Baxa, the outbreak has caused many adults in the community to realize that they are under vaccinated against pertussis.
“A lot of our adults didn’t realize that they were way out of date on their vaccination,” Baxa said. “This was actually a happy accident. It actually caused a lot of people to get current on their vaccinations. We don’t have records for adults, but by communicating it out, a lot of adults have done their research. Adults have said things like, ‘you’re right, it’s been 20 years since I got that shot. I’m gonna go get a shot.’”
Other than communication, the steps to preventing the spread of whooping cough are key to remember. According to McCallum school nurses, Genevieve Guinn and Shannon Fannin, the best thing to do to protect yourself against pertussis is to maintain regular hygiene and precautions similar to those used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s the idea of droplet airborne precaution, so really the best thing to do is just making sure that you’re covering your mouth with coughing and sneezing and using good hand washing,” Fannin said. “The early symptoms of pertussis overlap with many other illnesses and allergies, so really just pay attention to yourself and your body and know how you typically respond in those situations if you’re feeling like something is different or worse.”
If any student or staff member comes into contact with the nurses, they would work on taking those same precautions into account when taking action to help that faculty member or student on campus.
“If there’s someone with an active cough, then I would have them cover their mouth with a mask, but otherwise, good hand hygiene and just continuing to educate staff and students,” Guinn said.
With the probability of pertussis to continue to spread throughout the McCallum community, officials continue to emphasize the importance of protecting yourself and others from infection. From past experiences in the community, such as the one of the Johnson family, it is shown to be key to take precautions.
“It was really horrible for both of us,” Johnson said. “Believe me, you will know if your kid has it. It’s unlike anything I have experienced. He told me the other day that he is still a little terrified that it could happen again.”