Whooping cough scare at the Texas State Capitol

AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - A whooping cough scare at the Texas State Capitol has urged lawmakers to get immediate vaccinations.

The Texas Department of State Health Services says a person working at the Capitol was diagnosed with pertussis, also known as "whooping cough", and could have exposed others last week.

The news quickly reached everyone working at the Capitol including lawmakers.

State Health Services provided the Capitol nurse practitioner with the TDAP vaccine, which several lawmakers chose to get. 

"I'm really hopeful that now that we at the Texas Capitol have been touched by this concern about our own exposure, and exposure of our children or guests on the floor, that we'll take more seriously our responsibility to help Texans have faith in our medical institutions," said State Rep. Erin Zwiener, of District 45.

Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that can infect both adults and kids, but doctors say infants are more vulnerable to the disease. 

"We are the reason kids are getting pertussis, we are passing it back to the children," said Dr. Coburn Allen, with Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas of Central Texas.

Doctors are urging everyone to stay up to date on the vaccine.