CALIFORNIA'S EXPERIENCING A WHOOPING COUGH EPIDEMIC. THE WORSE IN 60 YEARS. TEN BABIES
DIED THROUGHOUT THE STATE. MORE THAN 7,000 PEOPLE HAVE BECOME SICK. NEARLY 1,000 IN SAN
DIEGO COUNTY ALONE. KPBS HAS SPENT THE LAST FOUR MONTHS INVESTIGATING THAT EPIDEMIC. TWO
REPORTERS ARE HERE TO TALK ABOUT THEIR FINDINGS. WELCOME YOU BOTH. WHAT IS IT YOU WANT TO FIND
OUT ABOUT THE EPIDEMIC?
WE HAD DONE SOME STORIES MONTHS BACK IDENTIFYING IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY THAT A NUMBER OF THE PEOPLE
WHO GOT WHOOPING COUGH WERE IMMUNIZED. WAS THIS SAN DIEGO COUNTY OR PART OF A LARGER
TREND?
WHAT CHANGE HAD THE LED TO THE INCREASE?
I THINK THAT'S REALLY THE QUESTION. A QUESTION THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER
TO. THAT WAS A BIG PART OF OUR INVESTIGATION. LOOKING BACK AT HOLIDAY THAT, THIS WAS A DISEASE
THAT 38 YEARS AGO WAS NEARLY WIPED OUT. WHAT'S CHANGED BETWEEN NOW AND THE 1970'S?
YOU WENT TO COUNTY AND STATE OFFICIALS TO GET DATA ABOUT PEOPLE GETTING WHOOPING COUGH.
FIRST OF ALL, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT?
WELL, WHEN WE GOT THE SET OF DATA FROM THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
IT WAS DETAILED. HOLD US HOW MANY CASES OF PEOPLE WERE IMUNITED, HOW MANY WEREN'T. THEY
SUBMIT THE DATA TO THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC OF HEALTH. WE WANTED TO FIND OUT STATE- WIDE
ON A COUNTY LEVEL WHAT COUNTIES WE ARE SEEING AS FAR AS THE EPIDEMIC GOES. WHEN WE GOT THE
STATE DATA WE FOUND IT WAS LACKING. THE HISTORY WAS UNKNOWN FOR A MAJORITY OF THE CASES THAT
HAD BEEN REPORTED IN CALIFORNIA THUS FAR.
WHAT WE DO KNOW IS HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GETTING SICK DO WE HAVE THAT INFORMATION?
YES.
HOW MANY OF THOSE WHO GOT SICK WERE IMMUNIZED?
RIGHT.
WHAT DID THAT TELL YOU ABOUT THE DECEASED?
IT TOLD US THAT THERE ARE A FAIR PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN IMMUNIZED AGAINST WHOOPING
COUGHS THAT WERE COMING DOWN WITH IT.
ALL RIGHT. NOW YOU ACTUALLY DISCUSSED ALL OF THIS WITH THE FAMILY WHO HAD A CHILD WHO
HAS THE DISEASE, RIGHT?
THAT'S RIGHT. KEVIN AND I ARE ALSO WORKING ON A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THIS EPIDEMIC. WE MET
A FAMILY WHOSE BABY AT 23 DAYS OLD WAS DIAGNOSED WITH WHOOPING COUGH. OUR AUDIENCE PROBABLY
DOES KNOW AT THIS POINT ANY EPIDEMIC THIS DISEASE IS MOST DANGEROUS FOR BABIES THAT
AGE. I WANT YOU TO NOW MEET THE FAMILY. WE HAVE A CLIP AND HOW THEY DESCRIBED WHY THEY
KNEW SOMETHING JUST WASN'T RIGHT WITH THEIR SON.
I KNOW EVERY CHILD GROWS DIFFERENT. WITH ALREADY TWO SONS THEY NEVER GOT A COLD THAT YOUNG.
IT JUST SEEMED LIKE THIS COLD WAS JUST AFFECTING HIS BREATHING. THAT WAS OR MAIN CONCERN.
I WANT TO TELL YOU, TWO DAYS AFTER THAT INTERVIEW THEIR SON BABY MATTHEW WAS HOSPITALIZED. HE
WENT TO THE HOSPITAL WITH A FEVER. IN THE DOCUMENTARY WE FOLLOW THE PROGRESSION OF THE
DISEASE. WE SHOW YOU SORT OF WHAT HAPPENS IN THE END. OBVIOUSLY THIS IS SORT OF THE
AGE GROUP THAT HEALTH OFFICIALS ARE WORRIED ABOUT. THIS IS WHY GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF
THIS EPIDEMIC AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS IS IMPORTANT.
KEVIN, WHEN YOU BEGAN REQUESTING NUMBERS WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE DID YOU GET?
WE STARTED GOING TO THE COUNTIES. INSTRUCTORS SAID THE MORE ACCURATE DATA IS AT THE COUNTY
LEVEL. WE SENT OUT REQUESTS TO 19 COUNTIES WHO HAD HIGH NUMBERS OF WHOOPING COULD HAVE.
THE RESULTS WERE INTERESTING. WE GOT DETAILED DATA FROM COUNTS AND AGATE INFORMATION FROM
OTHER TWO AND OTHERS WERE NOT GOING TO RELEASE THE INFORMATION OR DIDN'T HAVE THE INFORMATION.
ON A COUNTY-BY-COUNTY BASIS 40-80% OF THE PEOPLE WHO GOTTEN PERTUSSIS HAS BEEN IMMUNIZED.
THAT WAS THE CONCLUSION YOU CAME AWAY WITH.
RIGHT.
YOU DUG MORE DEEPLY FOR THE DOCUMENTARY. YOU WENT TO THE NETHERLANDS.
THAT'S RIGHT. FOR 15 YEARS DUTCH SCIENTIST HAVE BEEN STUDYING WHY ARE WE SEEING MORE
CASES OF PERTUSSIS, NOT JUST IN CALIFORNIA BUT WORLDWIDE? NETHERLANDS WENT THROUGH THE
EPIDEMIC IN 1996. THE GROUP OF SCIENTIST IN THE NETHERLANDS SAID WHAT'S CHANGED? WHAT'S
DIFFERENT NOW? JUST AS IN CALIFORNIA WHERE THEY WERE FINDING COMMUNITIES GETTING SICK,
DEFINING THAT ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD, AS WELL. THOSE SCIENTIST HAVE A THEORY THAT THE DISEASE
IS CHANGING. YOU'LL SEE MORE ABOUT THAT IN OUR REPORT ON RADIO AND THE TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY.
LET'S FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE REPORTS SINCE WE ARE WRAPPING IT UP DURING THIS SEGMENT.
WHEN WILL WE SEE THE DOCUMENTARY?
COVERAGE BEGINS ON MONDAY ON OUR WEBSITE KPBS.ORG/WHOOPINGCOUGH. TUESDAY MORNING YOU'LL HEAR THEM ON KPBS RADIO
AND YOU CAN GO TO WATCHDOG INSTITUTES.
WWW.WATCHDOGINSTITUTE.ORG.
FINALLY THURSDAY NIGHT ON KPBS TELEVISION AT 9:30.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH JOE ANN AND KEVIN CROWE.
THANK YOU.