AB, Canada: Whooping cough outbreak in areas of southern Alberta - Declared over

[Shiloh]

Source: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/alberta-health-declares-whooping-cough-190151448.html Whooping cough outbreak in areas of southern Alberta with low vaccine rates
[The Canadian Press]
June 7, 2017

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. ? The chief medical health officer for an area of southern Alberta says an outbreak of whooping cough is spreading through communities with poor vaccination rates.

Alberta Health Services says there have been 17 confirmed cases of pertussis in the south zone so far this year, with 12 cases just in the last week.

"What is unique about the last 12 ... is that they are linked, and are linked also to geographic communities with extremely low immunization rates," Dr. Vivien Suttorp said Wednesday...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/whooping-cough-exponential-outbreak-ab-1.4165942


Lethbridge-area 'exponential' whooping cough outbreak has health officials urging immunization
Immunization rates in southern Alberta can vary significantly, some say due in part to religion
By David Bell, CBC News Posted: Jun 17, 2017 1:00 PM MT Last Updated: Jun 17, 2017 1:00 PM MT

Southern Alberta is seeing a surge of cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, and a health official says it's directly related to low immunization rates in some areas.

As of Thursday morning, 38 cases in the Lethbridge area have been linked...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://globalnews.ca/news/3566304/a...surge-to-266-as-outbreak-continues-to-spread/


June 29, 2017 4:06 pm
Updated: June 29, 2017 4:36 pm
Alberta whooping cough cases surge to 266 as outbreak continues to spread
By Heather Yourex-West Health Reporter Global News

Alberta Health Services says there have now been 266 cases of whooping cough in the province in 2017, with 92 cases now connected to an outbreak in the south zone.

An outbreak was originally declared on June 7 after 17 cases were detected in communities with low immunization rates.

?We are definitely seeing almost a doubling in cases every week right now,? AHS south zone medical officer of health Dr. Vivien Suttorp said Thursday. ?With this number of cases and this rapid doubling of cases, we expect more out there. We?re going to be in this outbreak for several months.?...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/info/page15430.aspx
[h=2]Current Pertussis Data[/h] [h=4]Confirmed Pertussis Cases in Alberta, by Zone; 2017 (Year-To-Date)**[/h] [TABLE="class: dataTable table table-hover"]
[TR="bgcolor: #1E838F"]
[TD]Year of Diagnosis[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 6"]Zone[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]South[/TD]
[TD]Calgary[/TD]
[TD]Central[/TD]
[TD]Edmonton[/TD]
[TD]North[/TD]
[TD="class: active"]Total[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Count[/TD]
[TD]Count[/TD]
[TD]Count[/TD]
[TD]Count[/TD]
[TD]Count[/TD]
[TD="class: active"]Count[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
2017 [TD]152*[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]90[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD="class: active"]304[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/whooping-cough-cases-in-alberta-surge-to-more-than-500


Whooping cough outbreak continues in Alberta with 500 cases reported
Anna Junker
Published on: August 6, 2017 | Last Updated: August 7, 2017 2:54 PM MDT

An outbreak of whooping cough in Southern Alberta is showing no signs of slowing down.

In June, Alberta Health Services declared a whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak in southern Alberta, with 113 known cases. That number has risen to 259. So far this year, 501 cases of whooping cough have been reported across the province, with 32 of those cases confirmed in Calgary.

When the outbreak was first declared, the province?s chief medical officer said it was spreading through communities with poor vaccination rates...

 

[Pathfinder]

Whooping cough outbreak in southern Alberta prompts free booster clinics from AHS
...
By Tricia Lo, CBC News Posted: Aug 21, 2017 10:25 AM MT Last Updated: Aug 21, 2017 10:25 AM MT

Alberta Health Services hopes to get a handle on a whooping cough outbreak in southern Alberta before school starts next month. It's offering free booster clinics for kids ages 10 through 12 in its south zone starting today.

As of last Thursday, 305 cases of whooping cough have been reported in the area south of Calgary, which includes Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, and 257 of those cases have been linked to the current outbreak.
...
The south zone has more reported cases of pertussis than all the other AHS zones combined. There were 35 cases in the Calgary zone, 73 in the Edmonton zone, 131 in the central zone, and 44 in the north zone.
...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/whooping-cough-outbreak-calgary-lethbridge-1.4255612

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://lethbridgeherald.com/news/pr...ping-cough-outbreak-in-southern-alberta-over/

Health officials declare whooping cough outbreak in southern Alberta over
By The Canadian Press on December 13, 2017.

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. ? Health officials say an outbreak of whooping cough that began last spring in southern Alberta is over.

Alberta Health Services says cases of pertussis in the south zone have decreased so much that the situation can no longer be considered acute.

The health agency says the bacterial infection first surfaced June 5 and 441 cases were confirmed in the six months ending Dec. 7.

Of those, 388 were connected with the outbreak.

Health officials will continue to monitor and do followups.

AHS also continues to stress the importance of routine childhood immunizations ? which are free in Alberta ? to control the illness...