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NRDGP staff receive adult whooping cough vaccine |
 Public health nurse Marianne Trent immunises Dr Sue Page with adult diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine, while other staff members wait their turn.
Staff of the Northern Rivers Division of General Practice took part in a vaccination effort to increase protection for young children at risk from whooping cough today.
Public Health Unit nurse, Marianne Trent, gave the vaccinations to nine of the staff who have close contact with young children.
“Up to one in four babies with whooping cough are infected by adults,” says Dr Sue Page, the division’s immunisation project manager, who was also vaccinated.
“If teenagers and adults were immunised we could break the whooping cough cycle.”
Neither the disease nor the vaccine produces lifelong immunity, according to Dr
Page, and by the time fully vaccinated babies reach their teenage years, they will have little protection against whooping cough.
If an adult contracts whooping cough, their symptoms are often less severe, and may not be recognised. However they can spread the disease back to babies.
Infants less than one year have the greatest risk of serious and life threatening illness, Dr Page says, and babies are not fully protected against whooping cough until after they have received their third dose of the vaccine at six months.
“Adults and teenagers account for more than half the reported cases of whooping cough. So improving adult immunity to the disease will help prevent illness and is expected to reduce the risk of spreading whooping cough to young babies,” Dr Page says.
The new vaccine is available for children older than 10 and adults. It also includes protection against diphtheria and tetanus.
“Young adults planning a family should consider having the vaccine, so they don’t run the risk of getting whooping cough and infecting their small children.”
The vaccine is only available on prescription and costs around $40.
So far this year there have been 177 cases of whooping cough cases in the Northern Rivers, with the majority being older children, teenagers and adults.
~ENDS
Media Contact: Katherine Breen Kurucsev, NRDGP, 6622 4453. Mobile 0404 46 30 49.
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