Whooping cough: Which Fayette County high schools have the highest & lowest vaccination rates?

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The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department declared a pertussis outbreak last week after nine cases had been reported since late April.

On Tuesday, parents of Lexington’s Paul Laurence Dunbar High School students were notified of a case of whooping cough at that school amid the city’s outbreak of the disease, pushing the total to 10. And on Wednesday health department officials said the total cases in Fayette County had risen to 14.

Cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, have been reported at multiple other high schools, including Lafayette High School and Bryan Station High School.

But some of the lowest vaccination rates for the booster Tdap are at Fayette County private schools, the latest vaccination data shows.

The Kentucky Department for Public Health tracks immunizations for pertussis and other diseases such as measles.

The only public school with a vaccination rate less than 90% was the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy with a vaccination rate of 87.5%.

In the 2022-23 school year, vaccination rates for Tdap for 11th grade students in Fayette County was 93.4%. That’s slightly higher than the overall state Tdap vaccination rate of 92.9%

Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory disease that can be spread through coughing or sneezing.

However, most people have been vaccinated against it. One dose of the vaccine, called Tdap, is recommended for ages 11 and older, according to health department officials.

The vaccine is effective, but immunity tends to decrease over time, making the booster important for older children and adults, health department officials have said.

Teenagers and adults who have never received the Tdap vaccine should check with their primary care provider or call the health department at (859) 288-2483 Monday-Thursday to check availability.

Here’s the vaccination rates for Tdap for Fayette County high school students from lowest to highest for the 2022-2023 school year:

• Lexington Latin School 27.3%

• Clays Mill Road Christian Academy 36.4%

• Sayre School 68.5%

• MLK Academy 87.5%

• Opportunity Middle College 89.7%

• The Stables 90%

• Paul Laurence Dunbar 92.2%

• Henry Clay High School 92.5%

• Frederick Douglas High School 93%

• Lafayette High School 94.2%

• Bryan Station High School 94.6%

• Fayette County Learning Center 94.9%

• Success Academy, virtual learning 95%

• Trinity Christian Academy 95.8%

• Steam Academy 96.3%

• Lexington Christian Academy 96.4%

• Tates Creek High School 96.6%

• Lexington Catholic High School 97.3%

• Success Academy 100%

• Carter G. Woodson Academy 100%