There have been 93 cases of confirmed whooping cough in the greater Wellington region to date for 2015, with 13 cases from the Hutt Valley.
“Whooping cough can be a frightening experience for the whole family, and these numbers highlight the importance of vaccination,” says Annette Nesdale, Medical Officer of Health at Regional Public Health.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly infectious disease. The symptoms include fever, sneezing, persistent coughing which can last for up to three months and severe coughing spasms. It can be very serious in babies and young children and sometimes lead to pneumonia, brain damage convulsions or death.
To protect their babies and children from whooping cough parents should make sure babies receive their free pertussis immunisations at six weeks, three and five months old. A booster vaccination is also given to children at four
and 11 years.
Babies can catch the illness before their six week vaccination so pregnant women are advised to receive a free vaccination from their GPs between 28 to 38 weeks of pregnancy.
Getting vaccinated at this stage in the pregnancy protects the woman from catching whooping cough and passing the illness on and is also thought to provide the baby with some short term protection until the six week immunisation.
The whooping cough vaccination is available for a small cost to other people over 18 years and is recommended for people who work, live with or care for infants under 12 months of age. For more information on the vaccine, ask your doctor, nurse or if pregnant, your lead maternity carer.
