Illness prompts protocol at NIC Children's Center

A 3-year-old at the North Idaho College Children's Center has been officially diagnosed with pertussis or "whooping cough," a highly contagious bacterial disease.

The condition requires that the NIC Children's Center follow certain protocol established by the Panhandle Health District.

Children who could possibly be affected were sent home Thursday, and NIC is requiring that all children sent home be tested for pertussis before they can return to the center.

The most common form of the test involves a Q-tip swab to the back of the nose and throat. Results are available between 24 and 72 hours. The children may return to the center after a negative test result is received.

The center is not closing; only children who are possibly affected were sent home.

The college is asking parents to keep children home and have them tested if they develop mild cold-like symptoms from now until the last day of school at the center, May 13.

For questions about the NIC Children's Center, contact Keira Yetter, 769-3471. For a description of pertussis and its symptoms, visit www.phd1.idaho.gov/clinical/infectiousdisease/pertussis.cfm.