Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Whooping cough warning & my story November 8, 2024

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 2:31 PM
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CONSIDER THIS A PUBLIC SERVICE announcement. A warning. A firsthand account of a disease you don’t want to get. That would be pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

Nineteen years ago, I experienced a severe case of whooping cough which left me coughing uncontrollably, gasping for air and using an inhaler. I would not wish this bacterial respiratory tract infection on anyone. It’s that bad. I was sick for three months. Terribly sick. It isn’t called the 100-day cough for nothing.

NUMBERS ARE HIGH

So why am I writing about something that infected me nearly two decades ago? Well, because whooping cough cases are raging across the country, including right here in Minnesota. We are at an eight-year high with 1,622 confirmed and probable cases reported to the Minnesota Department of Health as of November 7. That compares to only 61 total cases in 2023.

Right now, my county of Rice has 11 of those cases. As one would expect, densely-populated areas rack the most reports of pertussis. In the eight metro counties in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul, 1,308 people have had whooping cough thus far in 2024, according to MDH stats. That’s just reported cases. The southeastern section of Minnesota, where I live, is also seeing plenty of pertussis.

I can throw more statistics at you. But I won’t. Rather, I’m attempting to increase awareness, to suggest you check your vaccination record. That shot you got as a kid does not last forever, as I obviously learned in 2005. I have a message in to my doctor right now checking my vaccination status for a possible booster.

UNCONTROLLABLE COUGHING, EXHAUSTION & FIGHTING TO BREATHE

Looking back to the summer of 2005 when I was infected with pertussis, I remember how awful I felt. I laid on the couch, coughing uncontrollably, beyond exhausted because I couldn’t sleep for all the coughing. The worst was the night I felt my airway closing. I gasped for air, struggled to breathe. In hindsight, my husband should have called 911.

It took three visits with my then doctor to get a correct diagnosis. Only when I coughed in his office (whooping cough has a distinct sound, thus the name “whooping”) did my physician suspect I had pertussis rather than bronchitis. I was his first diagnosed case in his 30 some years of practicing medicine. Early symptoms of runny and stuffy nose, low-grade fever, and mild cough mimic the common cold.

HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS

How do you catch whooping cough? The answer my doctor gave me back in 2005 was this: “You could have gotten it waiting in line at the grocery store.” He’s right. It’s that contagious.

Once diagnosed a month out from symptom onset, I went on an antibiotic, although it was a little late to gain the full benefits of that. My entire family also got on antibiotics. Still, two of them got pertussis, albeit much milder cases.

The gravestone of Deloris Edna Emilie Bode in Immanuel Lutheran Church, rural Courtland. My aunt died of whooping cough. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

DEADLY SERIOUS

Pertussis can be serious, especially for the little people in our lives. My Aunt Deloris died of whooping cough in 1935 at the age of only nine months. Granted, more medical intervention is available today. But still, this darling baby, daughter of Lawrence and Josie, died of pertussis. My heart breaks every time I think of baby Deloris.

So that’s my health spiel for today. Be aware that whooping cough is out there. And you really don’t want to catch it.

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NOTE: If you are anti-vax, know that I am not and I will not publish that viewpoint on this, my personal blog. I moderate all comments.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Fauci & face masks February 17, 2021

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
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I APPRECIATE DR. ANTHONY FAUCI. He’s been a strong, calm, unwavering source of factual information about COVID-19 since the pandemic began. I trust him. As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he speaks as a scientist, and also as an individual and official who cares deeply about others. He speaks truth, with no interest in self-glory. He never compromised, even in the face of public criticism from the highest powers.

Now he’s been named a recipient of the 2021 Dan David Prize for his contributions to health and medicine. The accolades and accompanying $1 million prize money are well-deserved. In noting his accomplishments, the Israeli-headquartered foundation cited Fauci’s global work in infectious diseases. HIV. Ebola. Zika. COVID-19. That’s an impressive list of professional credits.

Fauci impresses me as a man of incredible character. Or, as the awardees stated, “speaking truth to power.”

When I consider this scientist and all he’s done for the health and well-being of not only Americans, but also the global world, I consider how his expertise is still dismissed by some. Too many really. Just recently I walked away from a conversation in which the value of wearing face masks was questioned. Dr. Fauci’s name was mentioned. Although I voiced my disagreement, I realized it held no weight to these individuals. So I walked away.

I photographed this sign on a business in Crosby. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2020.

I am walking away more and more these days from people. Generally not people in conversation, because I’m seldom around anyone long enough to carry on a conversation. But walking away from people in public places who refuse to either wear face masks or who do not wear them over their mouths and noses. Those numbers are increasing, and I just do not get it. Walk into any grocery store in Faribault and you’ll see them—the non-maskers, the half-maskers. Even some cashiers are half-maskers and, when I see that, I call them out. I figure they owe it to customers to protect and respect them if they want their business.

We have a mask mandate in Minnesota requiring those ages six and over to wear face masks in public places. Children ages two to five are strongly encouraged to also wear masks. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.

When I pick up the local daily newspaper, I see photos of people grouped together, unmasked. And when I turn to the sports page, photo upon photo upon photo shows half-masked athletes. It’s disheartening. Disappointing. I am weary, too, of the political rhetoric over mask mandates.

The reason the Rare Pair in Northfield gives for wearing face masks. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo summer 2020.

I want people to do the right thing. Just wear a face mask and wear it correctly. Or, as my nearly 5-year-old granddaughter told her little friend recently, “It goes over your nose and mouth!” And, yes, she wears a face mask as does her little brother, who just turned two. If preschoolers can mask properly, so can adults.

For the 15 minutes or half hour or hour adults are grocery shopping or whatever in public, they can wear a mask and wear it correctly. Hanging around your neck doesn’t count. Nor does wearing a plastic shield without a mask meet CDC guidelines. The CDC now recommends double masking for added protection. I don’t know what it will take for people to understand the importance of mask-wearing. A locally-targeted marketing campaign. Public service announcements. My granddaughter accompanying me to the grocery stores in Faribault with her masking message.

Masking, and masking correctly, is about keeping all of us healthy and safe. Me. You. Your friends and neighbors and loved ones. Strangers. My granddaughter. And it’s about common sense and believing scientists, like Dr. Anthony Fauci.

FYI: Click here to read specifics on Minnesota’s mask mandate.

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling