Parents of as many as 200 children at Carrboro Elementary are being required to see their doctors this week after three confirmed cases of whooping cough at the school.

A letter went home with parents of students in kindergarten and fourth grade as well as students on one of the school's bus routes with information about the outbreak.

Orange County Health Director Rosemary Summers told NBC 17 News that two cases within a week in early February prompted the decision to make preventive treatment a requirement for students who had potentially been exposed.

"By Monday morning, they need to bring in proof of treatment," she said. "And if they don't have it, they will be excluded from school."

Kym Lucas has a kindergartner at Carrboro Elementary and three other young children. After a call from her daughter's teacher, she made a doctor's appointment for Thursday morning. .

"It's not like it's tuberculosis," said Lucas. "But it does make me really recognize the importance of immunization and the protection of herd immunity and how important that is. I know immunizations are really controversial right now, but I think they're still important."

Summers noted that the children involved had been immunized, but got whooping cough anyway. In a letter to parents, Summers said parents of fourth graders had been asked to get preventive antibiotics for their children after the first case was discovered, but many parents had not complied with the request.

"The decision to require preventive treatment was not made lightly," she said. "Continued transmission of pertussis not only in the school but also in the community creates additional expense and inconvenience for parents who continue to treat their children and it also places persons at risk for a serious disease."

Summers said physicians in the community have been notified, since parents will need prescriptions to get the antibiotic therapy. Students must take antibiotics for at least five days before they are considered not to be contagious.

Initial symptoms of whooping cough are often mistaken for a common cold and include:
*runny nose
*nasal congestion
*sneezing
*mild fever
*dry cough

Summers says if symptoms persist or are severe, you should see a doctor.