Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/04/12/66715_tasmania-news.html
Disease on rampage
MARK WORLEY
April 12, 2009 02:00am
TASMANIA'S whooping cough epidemic has continued to rapidly spread across the state.
In the past month there has been a 70percent spike in new cases.
Since January 1, 170 Tasmanians have been diagnosed with whooping cough -- up from the 99 cases reported when public health director Roscoe Taylor issued a statewide public health alert on March 13.
Nearly 300 Tasmanians have been diagnosed since the latest epidemic began last October. If the disease continues to spread at its current rate, Tasmania is likely to record the largest outbreak in a single year since more than 500 cases were reported in 1999.
And it is not just young Tasmanians being affected by the potentially deadly disease -- recent sufferers range in age from several weeks to 89 years old.
Despite the well-publicised warnings from the State Government, whooping cough continues to strike people right across the state.
State Communicable Diseases Prevention Unit manager Avner Misrachi said southern Tasmania was the latest hotspot for the disease. There was a dramatic rise in in the number of cases reported in March.
"These types of diseases usually follow a bell-curve pattern," Dr Misrachi said.
"In the North, we are seeing a decline in that curve, while in the South the curve appears to still be trending upwards."
In the South, 29 new cases were reported during March. Cases in the North have slowed, dropping consistently each month from a high of 34 reports last December.
The North-West has recorded 36 cases since last October.
Dr Misrachi said the whooping cough outbreak continued to pose a serious threat to patients of all ages.
Newborn babies are most at risk because their vaccinations are not complete until they are six months old.
Last month, a four-week-old New South Wales baby girl died from whooping cough, the first Australian fatality in more than a decade.
But Dr Misrachi said older people were also at risk of catching the disease because the vaccination they received in their youth could have worn off.
The Department of Public Health has encouraged anyone who has contact with babies to update their immunisation as soon as possible.
Dr Taylor said even people who had contracted whooping cough in the past could catch it again, and he encouraged parents, grandparents and childcare workers to get a booster vaccine.
Pregnant women should not get vaccinated against whooping cough but should do so as soon as they have delivered.
Anyone showing symptoms of whooping cough should contact their GP as soon as possible.
Disease on rampage
MARK WORLEY
April 12, 2009 02:00am
TASMANIA'S whooping cough epidemic has continued to rapidly spread across the state.
In the past month there has been a 70percent spike in new cases.
Since January 1, 170 Tasmanians have been diagnosed with whooping cough -- up from the 99 cases reported when public health director Roscoe Taylor issued a statewide public health alert on March 13.
Nearly 300 Tasmanians have been diagnosed since the latest epidemic began last October. If the disease continues to spread at its current rate, Tasmania is likely to record the largest outbreak in a single year since more than 500 cases were reported in 1999.
And it is not just young Tasmanians being affected by the potentially deadly disease -- recent sufferers range in age from several weeks to 89 years old.
Despite the well-publicised warnings from the State Government, whooping cough continues to strike people right across the state.
State Communicable Diseases Prevention Unit manager Avner Misrachi said southern Tasmania was the latest hotspot for the disease. There was a dramatic rise in in the number of cases reported in March.
"These types of diseases usually follow a bell-curve pattern," Dr Misrachi said.
"In the North, we are seeing a decline in that curve, while in the South the curve appears to still be trending upwards."
In the South, 29 new cases were reported during March. Cases in the North have slowed, dropping consistently each month from a high of 34 reports last December.
The North-West has recorded 36 cases since last October.
Dr Misrachi said the whooping cough outbreak continued to pose a serious threat to patients of all ages.
Newborn babies are most at risk because their vaccinations are not complete until they are six months old.
Last month, a four-week-old New South Wales baby girl died from whooping cough, the first Australian fatality in more than a decade.
But Dr Misrachi said older people were also at risk of catching the disease because the vaccination they received in their youth could have worn off.
The Department of Public Health has encouraged anyone who has contact with babies to update their immunisation as soon as possible.
Dr Taylor said even people who had contracted whooping cough in the past could catch it again, and he encouraged parents, grandparents and childcare workers to get a booster vaccine.
Pregnant women should not get vaccinated against whooping cough but should do so as soon as they have delivered.
Anyone showing symptoms of whooping cough should contact their GP as soon as possible.