Four cases of pertussis – also known as whooping cough – have been confirmed at Davie County High School.
The county health department is working with school officials to identify other students who may have been exposed.
Davie County School officials were notified earlier this week that a student in the band was diagnosed with whooping cough, and that number has grown.
The disease is highly contagious and spreads from person to person through direct contact with mucus or droplets from the nose and throat. It can be treated with antibiotics.
The district's lead nurse, Kathy Bokeno is asking parents to monitor their children for any symptoms.
“If you have a cough and it's getting worse, you're coughing so hard that it's making you throw up or you have fever, please go get checked,” says Bokeno.
State health officials say the Tdap vaccine is the best way to protect against pertussis.
Bokeno says all of the Davie County students who tested positive so far had been vaccinated with the TDAP booster.
*Follow Keri Brown on Twitter @kerb_news
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