Health officials say a case of whooping cough has been confirmed at Spanish Fort High School.

Whooping cough, the common name for Pertussis, is highly contagious.

Symptoms include a runny nose, mild sore throat, minimal or no fever, and a mild dry cough.

The cough gets gradually worse over a week or two and may become a series of coughs followed

By a whooping noise as the person tries to breath.

The press-register reports that health department officials notified parents of Spanish Fort

The Alabama Department of Public Health advises parents to take children with whooping cough symptoms to the doctor to get antibiotics.