and uprooted trees continues.

The green Bay area is seeing a whooping cough outbreak, with the county health department investigating more than 65 cases of the bacterial disease pertussis since the beginning of April.

It can be especially dangerous in infants.

Vaccines for pertussis are part of the regular schedule for children, with boosters for adults, but rates for required vaccinations have been dropping, state data shows.

In the last school year, 10% of school students were not meeting requirements.

Joining us with more is Katrina Nordyke, Brown County deputy public health officer.

And thanks very much for being here.

>> Thanks for having me.

>> So what kind of an increase in cases in Brown County is this of pertussis compared to normal years?

>> Well, so for example, here in Brown County we have 13 confirmed cases, mostly situated in the month of April.

And for last year we had one for the entire year.

So we did see an outbreak this season, as you mentioned, we have investigated over 65 cases.

So that means that we reach out to those with suspected cases, and do contact tracing, contact investigation, work with confirmed cases.

And for example institutions to provide education on what to expect and how to encourage people to seek treatment or stay home if they're feeling ill. >> Because how dangerous is whooping cough, especially for babies?

>> Well, Lubar cough is also known as pertussis.

It's caused by the bacteria.

It's very contagious.

It's spread through the air.

When a person with whooping cough coughs, sneezes, talks, sings and, it's especially dangerous for infants as they have underdeveloped airways, potentially haven't been vaccinated, and about a third to a half of those incidents can be hospitalized due to complications from the pertussis, we also see, dangers when you are looking at people who have immunocompromised or pregnant, persons.

>> As we've discussed, vaccinations for whooping cough are required starting in infancy with boosters, even for adults.

What are you seeing in terms of a drop off in people getting these required vaccinations?

>> Well, we have seen a slight, decrease statewide in, vaccine completion and uptake anywhere from around 2 to 5.

But here in Brown County, we are meeting our general benchmarks and also have been across the state strategizing around how to catch people up.

So people may have felt behind in their vaccination during Covid, and so we are strategically planning how to catch people up.

We have targeted vaccination clinics, education and promotion, and we're working with community partners to also have vaccination clinics out in the population.

>> Is there any sense that lower rates of vaccinations follow critical messaging around the Covid vaccine?

In recent years?

>> Well, we have to wonder how much of that, small decline in uptake is due to, the Covid 19 pandemic, people not being able to go in to their providers, people falling behind on just general appointments, and also maybe some questions remaining about the actual Covid 19 vaccination.

But we encourage people, please reach out to your medical provider, and ask any questions you have.

You can ask them where your vaccination status is at for you or your loved ones.

You can also check online on the Wisconsin Immunization Registry to see Immunization Registry to see