University Health Services (UHS) said yesterday it had confirmed a student living in an off campus fraternity house was diagnosed with pertussis -- better known as whooping cough -- on Monday.

A statement released yesterday by Phi Mu Delta fraternity, 251 S. Pugh St., confirmed that one of its members living in the chapter house was diagnosed with whooping cough.

Citing the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the fraternity would not release the name of the member with pertussis.

"This member has cooperated with University Health Services and was released from their care and is no longer contagious," according to the Phi Mu Delta fraternity statement. UHS also declined to release the name of the pertussis patient, said Shelley Haffner, nurse manager for infection control.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early pertussis symptoms are similar to the common cold. About seven to 10 days into the infection, more serious symptoms develop, like intense coughing spells that can result in vomiting, difficulty breathing following a coughing spell and, at times, loss of consciousness.

"They call it the hundred-day cough," Haffner said. "It's a pretty nasty infection."

Haffner said individuals who had come into close contact with the pertussis patient in the last three weeks were administered antibiotics.

"Close contacts ... we're in the process of identifying them and treating them prophylactically," she said.

The fraternity confirmed in the statement that "the brotherhood of Phi Mu Delta has received preventative antibiotics to prevent the spread" of the pertussis.

Haffner said pertussis is rarely seen at Penn State.

"We've probably had fewer than five cases [in the past year]," she said. "It may be something that we start seeing more commonly unless students start getting the vaccine."

Haffner encouraged students to use the Adacel brand Tdap vaccine, which immunizes against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.

"Immunity from the vaccine many of us may have gotten as children wanes as times go by," she said. "[Adacel] would significantly decrease their chance of pertussis."

CDC spokesman Curtis Allen also recommends the Tdap vaccine to prevent pertussis.

"Because we have such an effective vaccine for young children, many ... were not familiar with the disease, and it was often misdiagnosed," Allen said. "We've been steadily declining since the adoption of the Tdap."

Though the pertussis case appeared to be an isolated incident, Haffner said influenza cases continue to be a big concern for UHS.

"It's still going strong although not as strong as it had been," she said. "We're still seeing a significant increase in cases over this time last year -- over the whole flu season last year."