Whooping cough continues to spread through the hallways of Albuquerque's La Cueva high school, as the department of health reports the number of confirmed cases has doubled.
Health officials say the cases grew from three at the end of September to six as of Monday.
The department of health issued a letter to parents warning them of the dangers of pertussis, a highly contagious illness that can lead to death in babies and young children.
Mark Goodman, a parent at La Cueva High School, says he was informed that the majority of the cases are in the school band. His son is a member of the band, and he says he has been watching him closely for symptoms.
Health officials say pertussis is easily transmitted, particularly in areas prone to clusters that linclude schools, offices and homes.
"In a household where you have a pertussis case, you can expect that 80 to 90 percent of the other people in the household will develop pertussis as well," says David Selvage, an epidemiologist at the New Mexico Department of Health.
Selvage says the number of whooping cough cases in school-aged children has increased recently across the state.
Children are required to receive a vaccine that protects against pertussis before they enter middle school, however, Selvage says that vaccine begins to lose effectiveness after just a few years.
"The immunity conferred by the vaccine starts to wane within about two to three years," Selvage said. " (By high school,) you take a whole cohort of kids, you have about 30 to 40 percent of those kids who are susceptible, they're no longer protected."
Health officials are actively watching all of the cases at La Cueva to ensure that the children who have developed pertussis do not come in contact with babies or people who will be around babies.
So far, there is no indication that the outbreak has spread to any infants.
Health officials say there have been a total of 19 confirmed cases of pertussis in Albuquerque public schools so far this school year.