Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk-19,000 cases

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.edenmagnet.com.au/news/local/news/general/whooping-cough-epidemic/1513008.aspx

Whooping cough epidemic
AMANDA STROUD
14/05/2009 9:32:00 AM
A 976 per cent increase in the number of reported whooping cough cases in the Greater Southern Area Health Service, has health officials concerned, and parents and carers of babies and young infants running for vaccinations.

?There have been 296 reported whooping cough cases in the first three months of the year, compared to 30 for the same period last year,? NSW Minister for Health, John Della Bosca has reported.

?While April?s figures are not yet in, indications are that it has been another bad month, so I urge new parents, grandparents and adults who regularly care for infants less than 12 months old, to get vaccinated against whooping cough.

?Free booster vaccinations are available from general practitioners (GP?s) across the State,? he said.

Curalo Medical Clinic?s Dr Michael Pentin advises that whooping cough cases in Eden peaked around Christmas but have dropped off since.

?Currently there isn?t much (whooping cough) around Eden. But we are asking new mums and carers of newborns to make an appointment and come in and get the free vaccination.

?Anyone who is concerned should come in and see us,? Dr Pentin said.

Earlier this year, public health officers wrote to all new parents throughout NSW advising of arrangements for the free vaccine and contacted all GP?s to encourage vaccination to stem the rise of whooping cough cases.

GP?s across NSW were advised in March about the availability of free adult vaccine, ordering arrangements, and a new recommendation about the vaccination of children at six years of age.

Symptoms of whooping cough initially include a runny nose, tiredness and mild fever. Coughing bouts then develop followed by a big deep gasp that sometimes produces a whooping sound. Vomiting may follow these bouts of coughing. Adults often just have an ongoing cough without the whoop.

?NSW Health recommends all children be given the combination vaccine to protect against six conditions including whooping cough. This vaccine is normally given at two months, four months and six months of age,? the Minister said.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1028827/latest-from-wire/


Another outbreak hits Victoria
15 June 2009 | 03:23:05 PM | Source: AAP

A whooping cough outbreak is the latest health scare to affect Victorians, with newborns receiving free vaccinations against the virus.

The state is already reeling from more than more than 1,000 cases of swine flu.

But Victoria?s Health Minister Daniel Andrews has turned his attention to whooping cough, because of a sharp increase of infections.

"What we are doing is offering the vaccine to parents as soon as possible after the birth of their child, starting today."

Infections up by 50 per cent

In the first five months of this year there have been 946 cases of whooping cough in Victoria, compared with 449 in the same period last year.

Cases grew by more than 50 per cent last year from 2007.

Babies are particularly at risk from the potentially fatal disease, which is also known as pertussis, because they have no immunity.

"Pertussis is most serious in babies less than six months of age, and around one in every 200 infants under six months of age who catches pertussis will die," Mr Andrews says.

National outbreak

There have been similar outbreaks in Queensland and New South Wales earlier this year.

"There have been two infant deaths in Australia in this outbreak," says Mr Andrews.

Whooping cough is characterised by bouts of coughing lasting a few months.

It is highly contagious and can lead to serious illness.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/story/2009/06/16/a-whopping-increase-in-whooping-cough/

A whopping increase in whooping cough

16th June 2009

CONCERNED childcare workers have contacted The Advocate about the escalating rates of whooping cough on the Coffs Coast.

And their concerns are more than justified according to health officials.

By this time each year, on average, 14 cases are reported in the Coffs/Clarence region. So far in 2009, there has been a staggering 1600 per cent increase with 239 people infected with whooping cough.

A director of one local day-care centre, who did not want to be named, said yesterday there had been ?a huge number of cases being reported in the day-care community?.

?We've had three confirmed cases in the past three weeks, and I know of a number of day-care centres in the area that have had a number of cases as well. It's worrying because this is really serious for babies,? she said.

?It's not confined to one place either, we've heard of cases all over the area.?

The North Coast's Director of Public Health, Paul Corben, said parents of young babies in particular must be extremely vigilant.

?This epidemic rolls on,? he said.

?Swine Flu is attracting the spotlight but we have a bigger immediate threat with whooping cough in this area.

?We have certainly not seen levels like this in the Coffs/Clarence region before. This is also certainly what the nurses are telling me.?

Mr Corben urged parents to make sure their children's vaccinations are up to date and to keep babies in particular away from people who have a cough.

?And if you do have a cough yourself, please have it checked out. This is a highly infectious condition,? he said.

Whooping cough vaccinations are free in NSW.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/18/2601489.htm

Families warned to avoid whooping cough
By Melissa Maddison

Posted 2 hours 33 minutes ago
Updated 2 hours 34 minutes ago

Mackay region families are being urged to ensure their children are vaccinated against whooping cough, after an outbreak of the illness in the area.

A total of 115 cases have been confirmed in Mackay so far this year, with 42 of those cases diagnosed since the start of May.

Dr Nicole Higgins says whooping cough is preventable with a vaccine, which should be given to both children and adults.

She says the symptoms of whooping cough are quite distinct.

"It starts usually with a runny nose and a cough - it's a very harsh cough and often in children will end with a whoop, or they may vomit or gag after their coughing," she said.

"It's not just your normal cough, it's a pretty persistent and harsh cough and if they go to their GP, the GP can actually perform a test to confirm whether or not it's whooping cough."

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/06/23/48355_local-news.html

Whooping cough outbreak
Carenda Jenkin
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
? The Cairns Post

WHOOPING cough numbers in the Far North have reached alarming proportions - nearly seven times greater than during the same period last year.

There have been 205 cases of whooping cough in the Cairns and Hinterland Health District this year compared with 32 to June in 2008, ending at 150 by year?s end.

Ten-year-old Chantelle Yates, diagnosed with whooping cough last Thursday, described her coughing fits as "scary" and "painful".

"I think I've thrown up 20 times," she said.

Her father, Michael Yates, said he had taken Chantelle to three different doctors before a pathology report found she had the virus.

"We waited a week for the pathologist report and it stated she either recently had or she was getting over a case of whooping cough," he said.

"Everything's been committed to swine flu but, when you are out and about talking to the average person, people are talking about whooping cough more."

Queensland Health said that providing children were adequately vaccinated, there was no cause for undue concern but Mr Yates said Chantelle had the relevant shots when she was a toddler.

Tropical Population Health Services' Dr Steven Donohue said while whooping cough was troublesome at any age, it could be a serious illness in the first year of life or a serious infection risk to the non-immune newborn or to the fetus during late pregnancy.

"Whooping cough can only spread through coughing, and those with the illness should stay away from school until they have completed at least five days of an antibiotic," Dr Donohue said.

"This is important if further spread is to be prevented.

"Whooping cough vaccine routinely is given to children at two, four and six months of age with booster doses given at four and 15 years."

General Practice Cairns chairman Dr Garry Hartrick said GPs and their staff worked hard to spread the vaccination message.

"This is evidenced by the improvement in the vaccination figures seen over the last decade. Unfortunately, you will always have the objectors and the misinformed who spread the anti-vaccination message," Dr Hartrick said.

He said with a possible waning of immunity in the older community, all adults who have contact with young children should also be prompted to have a booster vaccination.

The dramatic increase of the "100-day cough" is a statewide trend - there are 2483 cases for the first six months compared with 673 for the same time last year.

Vaccinations are available through either your family doctor or at a community health clinic.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/que...s-swine-flu-infection-rate-20090624-cw1u.html

Whooping cough epidemic dwarfs swine flu infection rate
Marissa Calligeros
June 24, 2009 - 11:55AM

As Queensland Health continues to close schools and quarantine confirmed cases of swine flu, another highly contagious and potentially fatal disease has reached epidemic proportions across the state.

There have been 2,445 cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, reported in Queensland to June 14 this year, dwarfing the 379 cases of the H1N1 swine flu virus.

The latest figures show this year's whooping cough outbreak is the worst in three years.

"There has been an increase in infections throughout Queensland...which is more than four times what would be expected based on previous years," Queensland Health Deputy Director-General Dr Aaron Groves said.

Nationwide, the number of whooping cough cases logged with the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing is the largest in at least four years, with the number of reported infections soaring to 13,817 in just six months.

Health authorities have urged parents to ensure their children are immunised against whooping cough, amid concerns that a false belief that the illness was eradicated many years ago would lead to a widespread outbreak.

Pertussis epidemics usually occur every three to four years, with the last emerging in Queensland in 2006. It is a "notifiable disease" because it is highly contagious.

Although the immunisation rate for whooping cough in Australia has increased to at least 90 per cent, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Queensland faculty chairwoman Jane Smith warned the vaccination does not provide life-long immunity to the virus.

While most victims are more than one year of age, young infants are at greatest risk until they can have at least two doses of the vaccine, because their mother's antibodies do not provide reliable protection.

Whooping cough can present as a persistent cough, without the "whoop" in adults who remain contagious for three weeks without antibiotic treatment, putting susceptible infants at greater risk of contracting the virus.

"You may only be slightly sick, but you could pass on a deadly virus to a vulnerable newborn, so you just shouldn't go anywhere near young infants," Dr Smith said.

"Any adult or child with a chronic persistent cough should visit their doctor."

The vaccine is free as part of the National Immunisation Program Schedule for children aged two, four and six months. Booster vaccinations are offered at four years and between 12 and 17 years through state governments. The vaccine is part of the combined diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis shot (DTPa).

Queensland Health said year 10 students were offered the vaccine but Dr Smith said parents might be unaware their teenagers had been offered booster shots at school.

"Teenagers are generally needle-phobic and can sabotage the immunisation process by never telling their parents that the school is organising booster shots," she said.

Dr Smith said relaxation about general hygiene measures had contributed to the outbreak.

"If we were more observant of personal hygiene washing hands, coughing and sneezing into a disposable tissues the instances of whooping cough and other highly contagious infections would be greatly reduced," she said.

Meanwhile, Queensland Health today ordered the closure of three state schools on the Sunshine Coast and two in Brisbane due to swine flu for the remaining school term.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/06/26/48915_local-news.html

Whoops, misdiagnosis
Carenda Jenkin
Friday, June 26, 2009
? The Cairns Post

CAIRNS parents say they have to take their children to at least three doctors before finding out their little ones have whooping cough

As the number of cases in Cairns this year rose to 209 yesterday, Edmonton mother-of-five Kerry Schonig said on her three-year-old son Kai?s first visit to the doctor, she was told to buy cough mixture.

"He had the cough for a week-and-a-half and it was getting worse so I rang 13HEALTH and took him to a doctor but they just gave me cough medicine," she said.

She said it was not until the third visit that Kai had a blood test.

When it was confirmed Kai had the virus, she feared the worst for her 14-month-old daughter Annabelle.

She said her children had not been vaccinated against the bug, but luckily her other children tested negative.

Mother-of-four Nicole Bromage said all her children were given the regular booster but two of them had it worse then Kai.

"I took Charli ? she?s eight ? because their cough was so horrendous. Give her cough mixture, a week went by and she hadn?t changed," Mrs Bromage said.

"By the third time, I ranted and raved and he sent her for a blood test and to get her chest checked."

Tropical Health Services public health medical officer Steven Donohue said the process for testing for whooping cough was complex.

Dr Donohue said because symptoms of the disease and flu overlapped in the early stages, it was hard to diagnose milder cases of whooping cough.

He said, however, "in general, early blood samples may not pick up whooping cough in someone who has the disease".

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,27574,25704340-5006009,00.html


Baby Dana McCaffery leaves whooping cough vaccination legacy
Article from: The Daily Telegraph
By Gemma Jones

June 29, 2009 12:00am

BABY Dana McCaffery has more than 32,000 friends on Facebook, none of whom she will ever meet. But her legacy may save their lives.

Since the four-week-old baby girl died from whooping cough in March, almost 5000 people in NSW have been struck down in an epidemic few people know about despite the death of several babies around the nation.

The state toll has eclipsed the national swine flu tally but without a campaign by Dana's parents Toni and David, from Lennox Head on the Far North Coast, more parents would be in the dark.

Thousands of people have now contacted the McCafferys because they failed to realise adults need booster vaccinations and many did not know that the state was in the grip of an epidemic.

"We are so proud of our baby, we are so proud of the impact she has had on others," Mrs McCaffery said.

"She has 32,000 Facebook friends but that doesn't even touch the size (of the support), her story has gone worldwide."

A NSW Health review into Dana's death and the whooping cough epidemic began last Monday but the McCafferys, who had no warning about the deadly disease, would like to see a swine-flu style public campaign immediately.

The report will only be ready later in the year.

"What is infuriating is they are doing a review, it will change by the end of the year," Mr McCaffery said yesterday.

"It needs to be now, not next week or next month."

Newborns such as Dana are too young for the whooping cough vaccine. Most babies go home from hospital with a whooping cough warning on medical files - advising parents and grandparents to be vaccinated - but Dana did not receive one.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.penrithstar.com.au/news/...-vaccine-back-on-penrith-shelves/1553775.aspx

Whooping cough vaccine back on Penrith shelves
BY GEMMA SEYMOUR
29/06/2009 3:32:00 PM

THE whooping cough vaccine is available in pharmacies again after demand caused supply to the private market to dry up.

Replenished stocks means those who have prescriptions they have been unable to fill will now be able to get the jab, including an 83-year-old Penrith resident who contacted us after our story earlier this month to say he couldn't find the vaccine.

He had been waiting since mid May. ``I didn't think it would be a problem,'' he said.

Since the Star's report on June 2 there have been another five confirmed cases in Penrith this year, bringing the total to 295.

The Boostrix vaccine is provided free of charge for all new parents, grandparents and regular carers of infants less than a year old under the NSW Government's Pertussis Outbreak Response Program.

Steven Ngo, from Steve's Pharmacy, Penrith, told the Star that quite a few people had been asking for the vaccine. Mr Ngo said his pharmacy's supply of Boostrix was replenished on Thursday.

There has been no shortage of whooping cough vaccine to the government programs.

Children and adults who develop a severe cough that comes in bouts should visit their GP for testing.

Details: health.nsw.gov.au/publichealth/immunisation/index.asp

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/01/2613820.htm


Whooping cough rampant on north coast

The North Coast Public Health Unit says the region's whooping cough problem has now become a full-blown epidemic.

The unit's director, Paul Corben, says 936 cases of the disease have been recorded on the north coast so far this year.

Mr Corben says that compares with just over 1000 for all of 2008, which itself was considered a bad year.

"Oh look I think epidemic covers this quite well," Mr Corben said.

"The North Coast suffered these high rates earlier in the piece and that was certainly fuelled greatly by low vaccination rates in some communities but... it's now making inroads into communities that have very high vaccination rates," he said.

Mr Corben says young children, and those who have close contact with them, should nonetheless be vaccinated.

"We're very concerned that amongst those 936 cases there are 38 children under the age of one year and it's those young babies that are most vulnerable," he said.

"People will recall that a four-week-old baby from the north coast died in March this year from whooping cough so we're very keen to avoid further deaths," Mr Corben said.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/03/2615616.htm


Parents urged to immunise against whooping cough

Posted Fri Jul 3, 2009 7:44am AEST
Updated Fri Jul 3, 2009 7:43am AEST


The Hunter New England Area Health Service has renewed a warning to parents and carers to immunise their children against whooping cough.

It comes after reports from the North Coast Public Health Unit that the whooping cough problem in that area has become a full-blown epidemic.

The Hunter New England immunisation coordinator, Dr Christine Carr, says the lower mid-north coast does have high vaccination rates.

But she says residents should not become complacent as whooping cough can easily spread.

"Well we haven't had too many reported cases in the lower mid-north coast. However, we can't assume they are totally isolated and there's not going to be people coming in and out of their area," she said.

"We're still very concerned about very small babies, very young babies up to the age of six months."

She says young babies need to complete a course of vaccinations.

"We have really good immunisation rates but some part of the north coast have certainly had many many cases of whooping cough," she said.

"It's really children under the age of seven months, until they've had that primary course and completed that primary course, they are at risk of having complications."

Tags: diseases-and-disorders, vaccines-and-immunity, children, coughs-and-colds, coffs-harbour-2450

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/whooping-cough-cases-spread-far-and-wide-20090704-d8e3.html

Whooping cough cases spread far and wide
Rachel Browne
July 5, 2009

Inset:

WHOOPING cough is spreading to previously unaffected parts of NSW and the number of cases nationally is at its highest level in four years.

Although the number of cases in NSW has fallen since the outbreak of the epidemic late last year, doctors warn the geographic spread of whooping cough could lead to a new surge in infections.

In June, 690 people were diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease, down from a peak of 2001 cases recorded in December.

Lithgow, 140 kilometres west of Sydney, has had 101 cases this year, compared with an annual average of 19 cases over the past decade.

Dr Vicky Sheppeard, the director of the Sydney West Area Health Service's communicable diseases unit, said the infection was reaching areas where people had not developed immunity.

"It's to do with populations mixing and people travelling," she said.

"As people travel to new areas and mix with other people, the infection spreads.

"Eventually people in those areas develop immunity because they have had the illness or been vaccinated. Then the disease starts to affect new areas where people don't have such a high level of immunity."

The federal Department of Health and Ageing has recorded 13,817 whooping cough infections in the past six months. This compares with about 5000 people who have tested positive for swine flu, which has killed 10 people in Australia, including a man from NSW who died last Monday.

There is a vaccine for whooping cough - a swine flu vaccine is being developed - but it is not 100 per cent effective. The NSW Health's director of communicable diseases, Jeremy McAnulty, said parents of young children should be aware of symptoms of whooping cough, known as pertussis, which include a deep, gasping coughing attack.

"Immunisation against pertussis helps to prevent the disease [but] does not provide lifelong immunity," Dr McAnulty said. "Parents should remain vigilant to ensure their children are up to date with vaccinations."

In NSW, about 40,000 children are not vaccinated against whooping cough. It has been reported that on the state's North Coast, about 30 per cent of children are not vaccinated. The vaccine is free as part of the national immunisation program schedule for children aged six months, two years and four years. Booster vaccinations are offered at four years and between 12 and 17 years through the State Government. The vaccine is part of the combined diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis shot (DTPa).

However, the vaccine is about 85 per cent effective, meaning children who have been immunised can still catch the disease. Children who have been immunised will usually suffer milder symptoms than those who have not.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/11/2623158.htm?site=idx-nsw

Five-fold increase in whooping cough cases

There has been a five-fold increase in the number of people diagnosed with whooping cough in New South Wales in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year.

About 8,700 cases of whooping cough were reported in the first six months of 2009.

According to the New South Wales Health Minister, that is five times the number for the same period last year.

In some areas the increase has been higher.

John Della Bosca says the Hunter New England Area Health Service has reported 836 cases, compared to just 110 in the first half of 2008.

He is urging parents to have their babies vaccinated at six weeks, and says parents themselves should get a booster shot to prevent infecting their babies.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2009/07/13/whooping-cough-an-epidemic/

Whooping cough an epidemic
Kirsty Noffke | 13th July 2009


A WHOOPING cough epidemic has officially been declared on the New South Wales North Coast, with the number of people diagnosed in the first half of the year five times that for the same period last year.

New South Wales minister of health John Della Bosca said more than 8700 cases had been reported in the first six months of the year, almost the same amount as for all of 2008.

?In the North Coast Area Health Service, there have been 936 notifications to the end of June, compared to around 110 for the same period last year,? Mr Della Bosca said.

?This is a serious illness, which can result in hospitalisation, even death, so new parents, grandparents and any other adult who regularly cares for infants less than 12 months of age should get a free booster.?

NSW Health recommends all children be given the combination vaccine to protect against six conditions, including whooping cough, at two months, four months and six months of age.

?However, parents and GPs are now being urged to bring the first dose forward to six weeks of age to provide earlier protection,? Mr Della Bosca said.

?Symptoms of whooping cough initially can include runny nose, tiredness and mild fever.

?Coughing bouts then develop, followed by a big deep gasp that sometimes produces a whooping sound. Vomiting may follow these bouts of coughing. Adults often just have an ongoing cough, without the whoop.?

Whooping cough is easily spread to other people by droplets from coughing, Mr Della Bosca said.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.bunburymail.com.au/news/...-the-increase-in-greater-bunbury/1574907.aspx


Disease on the increase in Greater Bunbury
BY LEE-MAREE GALLO
22/07/2009 11:14:00 AM

PARENTS of young children are being urged to immunise their children against the potentially deadly whooping cough disease after it was revealed cases in Greater Bunbury have doubled over the past year.

Information obtained from the Health Department showed the number of cases rose significantly over three years.

Whooping cough is an acute bacterial infection of the respiratory tract caused by Bordetella pertussis and is characterised by spasms of coughing with an inspiratory ?whoop? particularly in young children.

From May 2008 to May 2009 40 cases of whooping cough were recorded in Greater Bunbury compared to 21 in the previous year and nine in 2006 to 2007.

A drop in parents having their children vaccinated against the disease was one of the factors in the rise of whooping cough cases.

Greater Bunbury Division of General Practice liaison officer Denise Hine said immunisation stopped the spread of disease and with timely and appropriate vaccination whooping cough could be prevented.

"If a greater proportion of the community, about 90 per cent, were immunised against certain diseases then there is less likelihood of an epidemic of that disease," she said.

"There are diseases that we no longer see in Australia because of vaccinations."

Ms Hine said immunisation should be carried out on children when they are aged two, four and six months old, four-years-old and a booster dose should be given during their seventh year of schooling.

WA Country Health Service South West public health physician Dr Naru Pal said the disease was most serious in babies under six months of age as they were not fully protected by vaccination.

"The immunity following vaccination or from catching the disease itself is short lasting, waning after about five years," he said.

"So, older children and adults as well as those who have never been vaccinated are susceptible to the infection."

Dr Pal said there were several reasons some parents did not want their children immunised including a philosophical opposition to vaccination.

"Immunise your child on time as it is the most rational approach to control whooping cough," Dr Pal said.

Parents can get their children immunised for free at their local GP practice, community health clinics and Aboriginal Community Health Services.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/08/06/90781_news.html

Whooping cough outbreak hits city

Nick Wade

August 6th, 2009
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GEELONG is in the grip of a whooping cough outbreak and experts are renewing calls for adults to get immunised to combat the rampant spread of the potentially fatal disease.

Department of Human Services figures show 107 people in the region had contracted pertussis by July 26 this year, compared with just 17 cases at the same time last year.

Geelong has already more than doubled the 49 cases recorded in the region for the condition last year and dwarfed the 2007 figure of 25.

The figures confirmed Geelong was one of the front-runners in an Australian-wide outbreak of whooping cough, a chronic affliction that can strike any age group.

"There are increases of the same magnitude being seen elsewhere, not only across Victoria, but throughout the eastern states," DHS spokes-person Bram Alexander said.

Geelong GP Association medical adviser Dr Jane Opie said last month whooping cough was passed on by adults and the only way to reduce the spread was through adult immunisation.

She said babies were not protected against the condition until after they had received three doses of the immunisation over the first six months of their life.

"The issue with immunisation is you don't get immunity until you get a repeated number of doses of the vaccine, so it means that infants under the age of six months are the ones who haven't yet had the opportunity to be fully immunised," Dr Opie said.

"This is a disease that can be very adequately prevented through vaccination, but to protect your infants, you actually have to vaccinate your adult population because our immunity wanes over time.

"Where the reservoir of infection continues is within the adult community and all of us should be having a 10-yearly booster against pertussis throughout our lifetime, that's the only way to reduce the community spread.

Barwon Health director of infectious diseases Dr Eugene Athan said pertussis was reasonably contagious and was dangerous for newborns.

Dr Athan said half the young children presenting with whooping cough had not been immunised.

He recommended new parents and grandparents get immunised to ensure they do not pass on the condition to their newborn.

There had been 1794 reported cases of the condition in Victoria at July 24 this year, up on 673 to the same period in 2008.

Vaccinations to help stop the spread of whooping cough are still available free of charge from maternity hospitals and GPs.

 

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Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2009/08/13/whooping-cough-adds-to-worries/

Whooping cough adds to worries

Lee Gailer | 13th August 2009

MEDICAL centres in Gympie have been busy treating people for flu symptoms, due to the spread of swine flu, and now an outbreak of whooping cough is a concern.


IT is not a good time to be sick.

Medical centres in Gympie have been busy treating people for flu symptoms, due to the spread of swine flu, and now an outbreak of whooping cough is causing more worry.

As Queensland Health expects a peak in swine flu cases this month, medical professionals are also bracing themselves for the worst whooping cough outbreak in years.

Infections throughout Queensland have increased by about four times what would be expected based on previous years, with the number of whooping cough cases nearing 3000 in Queensland.

Compared to the number of cases of the H1N1 swine flu virus (about 400), whooping cough is reported to have reached epidemic proportions in the state.

However, swine flu is still the more feared of the two highly contagious diseases.

A healthy man in his 40s died from the virus in Mackay Hospital - Queensland's first fatality in a person not considered vulnerable to developing flu complications.

So far, 22 people have died of swine flu-related causes in Queensland and about 100 people were in Queensland hospitals with H1N1.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk.

Source: http://www.cowraguardian.com.au/new...ugh-was-a-frightening-experience/1602540.aspx

Whooping cough was a frightening experience
21/08/2009 9:28:00 AM

As swine flu is dying down in the media, whooping cough reports are increasing and local whooping cough victim Chris Rowston knows only too well why.

Chris was diagnosed with whooping cough in April this year after a coughing fit which stopped him breathing.

?I woke up at 3am in the morning after coughing and just couldn?t breathe,? Chris said.

?It was really quite scary.

?My wife didn?t know if she should call the ambulance,? Mr Rowston said.

Chris went to the doctor the next day and after tests was diagnosed with whooping cough.

?I can?t pinpoint when or how I got it, but it was sometime in late April and I have only just gotten over it,? Mr Rowston said.

Whooping cough is also known as the 100 day cough, so it was no surprise it has taken Chris this long to recover from it.

?I don?t recommend it to anyone,? Chris said.

?It is a terrible and frightening thing.

?The worst was when I stopped breathing.

?Adults can handle it because they know what to do, but it is no wonder little babies die from it, they just wouldn?t know how to handle it,? Mr Rowston said.

From January to July 2009 465 cases of whooping cough were diagnosed in the Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS), 55 of those diagnosed in the month of July.

Chris Rowston said a tickle stayed in his throat for the entire time and he has only just gotten back to doing regular activities.

?The tickle was always there, I only started coughing when it was agitated. I didn?t cough all the time, maybe once or twice a day.

?I was listless, had no motivation and struggled to do physical activity. It really knocks you about,? Mr Rowston said.

Chris, like many people who have contracted the disease in the later stages of their lives, was vaccinated as a child.

?It would be interesting to see of the people who contracted whooping cough where around my age, as that will show the vaccination does not last a life time. I got my (vaccination) in Year 9 at school,? Mr Rowston said.

Chris is back, fighting fit and ready to take on the World Masters swimming championship in October.

?I hadn?t been doing a great lot, but now I am slowly getting back into it,? Mr Rowston said.

He will be competing in the 50 and 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and several relays.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk-19,000 cases

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/03/2675448.htm

Whooping cough deaths spark vaccination debate

By Kirstin Murray for the 7.30 Report

7.30 Report | abc.net.au/7.30

Posted 10 hours 9 minutes ago
Updated 9 hours 10 minutes ago
Whooping cough epidemic reignites immunisation debate


* Video: Whooping cough epidemic reignites immunisation debate (7.30 Report)
*
Three babies have died from whooping cough this year and close to 19,000 cases have been reported.

Doctors now fear figures could worsen if parents decide not to immunise their children.

Their warning has reignited a fierce debate - the Australian Vaccination Network says the inoculations are dangerous, but health professionals say that campaign is based on fear, not facts.

In February this year the McCaffery family became five. But Toni and David McCaffery could not have predicted the danger their baby faced.

When Dana McCaffery developed a runny nose her parents weren't worried. But they didn't know their child had been born in one of the worst whooping cough epidemics on record.

Still, no-one suspected she could have the deadly disease. It would take four trips to the local GP before whooping cough was finally diagnosed, and within days their baby was critically ill.

"It's just pure torture. You see your precious, beautiful little baby, every portion of their body is in pain when they cough like that. Their eyes just get wider and wider, and they're just pleading with you to make it stop," Mrs McCaffery said.

Dana McCaffery didn't have a chance. Her tiny body couldn't withstand the pneumonia and aggressive bacterial toxins that set in.

"A priest came and baptised Dana. About five minutes later Dana went into cardiac arrest and the room was just full of people trying to save her," Mr McCaffery said.

"She passed away and they gave her to us and we held her, and pulled all the wires and tubes out of her and nursed our little girl."

Dana McCaffery is one of three babies who have died across the country this year from whooping cough. In the same week she passed away in Lismore Base Hospital, two other babies had to be airlifted to Brisbane for emergency treatment.

Paediatrician Dr Chris Ingall says each baby came close to death and he hopes it is something he will never see again.

"There are still four cases a day - four notifications a day still rolling through in this valley alone. So it hasn't gone away. It's protracted and we're not winning," he said.

Five months on, what haunts the McCafferys is that they didn't know they were living in a region with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

Since their daughter's death they have discovered up to one in three children in their NSW north coast community are not vaccinated - three times less than the national average.

"I would never have ever considered asking someone if they'd vaccinated their child, it's completely their business and I guess we've learnt the hard way that actually that choice does affect everybody around you," Mr McCaffery said.

Dr Ingall treated Dana McCaffery in hospital and sees a clear link between the region's low vaccination rate and her death.

"I mean, we've educated and educated ... and educated, and it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. And part of me, in my mind was, well, Dana was an accident waiting to happen," he said.

Debate

Doctors say mass immunisation has been the most effective public health strategy ever launched in Australia.

Polio epidemics once struck with fierce consequences. More than 1,000 died and tens of thousands more were paralysed.

But when a vaccination was introduced in the 1950s, the disease was all but eradicated.

The story is the same for many once-common children's ailments like measles, mumps and meningitis.

But for some there is fear and suspicion of the push to vaccinate, and the internet has provided a global and pervasive forum for debate.

The stronghold of the anti-vaccination movement is based in the same neighbourhood as the McCafferys.

Australian Vaccination Network president Meryl Dorey says there are a range of toxins in vaccines and many of them have no place in the body.

She has travelled to Adelaide to warn parents of what she sees as the potential dangers from vaccinating.

"This is Robert and I think he was 12 when he was given the hepatitis B vaccine and within 24 hours he had that paralysis down his face," Ms Dorey said.

The Australian Vaccination Network says that boy's case is not isolated and the group's website has documented death and disability that parents blame on vaccination.

"Everything from just the minimal reactions like swelling at the site and fever, high-pitched screaming is very common, shock collapse - which is floppy baby syndrome," Ms Dorey said.

"There can be autism, ADD and ADHD, which are both very common right now, which were almost unheard of 20, 30 years ago. They have been related to vaccinations."

She says while Dana McCaffery's death was a tragedy, she rejects the theory that low vaccination rates played any part.

The mother of four has written about her own family's experience with whooping cough, describing it as a storm in a teacup, which was treated with homoeopathy.

"Just because someone is a doctor doesn't necessarily mean they're an expert on every area of medicine, and unless they've actually done some independent research into vaccination they may not know more than the average parent who's read a few articles and a book or two about vaccinations," Ms Dorey said.

"I think most doctors really believe in vaccinations. They've been taught to believe in vaccinations and they haven't done a whole lot of research on their own."

According to UNICEF, immunisation averts more than 2 million deaths a year worldwide. But Dr Chris Ingall says the Australian Vaccination Network ignores this statistic.

"Their work is negative, destructive and has no scientific basis. I wish they weren't here. Because this is the battle we have that in some sections of the community up here it's almost fashionable not to vaccinate, as if it didn't matter - and it does matter," he said.

'Difficult choice'

Infectious disease specialist Professor Peter McIntyre says the Australian Vaccination Network manipulates research and statistics to argue its case.

"It's been a real characteristic of the anti-vaccine movement in Australia claiming to be looking very extensively at the scientific evidence," he said.

"If you're someone like me whose job it is to spend their time going through a lot of this evidence, then you realise that it really is a complete misinterpretation."

Brisbane mother of three Kara Harding is struggling to make sense of the vaccination debate. She started vaccinating her first child but discontinued after questioning its safety.

"It's a really difficult choice. I think there's a lot of information out there - a lot of it conflicts with each other and I feel like I've made the best decision that I can at this point in time," she said.

"It doesn't mean I am not considering vaccinating in the future. When I do, I will do it with a lot of thought and consideration. It's a real conundrum to choose which way to go."

Doctors concede there can be side effects, but argue the health risk of not vaccinating is far more dangerous.

"Seeing a baby as the McCafferys did, die of whooping cough, is a terrible experience," Professor McIntyre said.

"Seeing a child die of measles is also very sad, seeing a child die of tetanus, seeing a child have a bacterial meningitis - all these diseases are very, very nasty.

"So making people aware of how dangerous these diseases were before vaccines were around, I make no apologies for that."

In an effort to protect the youngest and most vulnerable from catching whooping cough, Professor McIntyre is about to trial vaccinating newborns.

For parents and grandparents of newborns, authorities are now offering free booster shots to target those adults whose immunity would have waned since they were vaccinated as children.

For the McCafferys, they are left wondering why not one health professional warned them of the whooping cough epidemic.

As they await the outcome of a NSW Health Department investigation into their daughter's death, they hope lessons learnt will save others.

"People need a personal story to be able to associate with and they've got a personal story. They've got ours. And we're just asking the Government to use it," Tony McCaffery said.

 

[Roehl_JC]

Re: Australia. Whooping cough: Nationwide Epidemic risk-19,000 cases

Whooping cough infections triple

September 5, 2009 - 12:56PM .
NSW will lead a national campaign to protect babies against whooping cough after an outbreak tripled the number of infections.

State and federal health ministers have backed the initiative to set up a national immunisation strategy to tackle the epidemic.

So far this year, whooping cough has claimed the lives of three children in Australia, including one from NSW.

The number of people infected nationwide has tripled from 7500 to 27,000 in the past year, NSW Health Minister John Hatzistergos said in a statement on Saturday.

The public awareness campaign will urge new parents, grandparents and childcare workers to get vaccinated.

It will also ask parents to immunise their children at six weeks old -- two weeks earlier than the current recommendation.

Mr Hatzistergos said whooping cough was a highly contagious disease spread by droplets from coughing.

"Young babies under 12 months are most at risk and I strongly urge new parents to heed the advice of medical experts and protect their children.

"To protect newborn babies it is important to keep them away from people with coughs and other flu-like symptoms."

AAP

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/whooping-cough-infections-triple-20090905-fbvd.html