There’s been “higher than expected’’ cases of whooping cough in the Illawarra’s southern suburbs this year, according to the region’s public health unit.
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A concerned parent contacted Fairfax Media last week, after her primary school-aged son was the latest of his classmates to contract the condition.
“I don't know numbers, only that class after class has been affected since term started and it's still going,’’ the parent, who did not wish to be named, said. “… We have a baby at home.’’
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District acting director of public health Diane Lovatt confirmed a high number of cases down south, but said they were now declining.
“Since January, there have been 150 confirmed cases of pertussis disease (whooping cough) across the (district),’’ she said. ‘’These rates are well below the NSW average, and they continue to fall.
“There have been higher than expected numbers in the Kiama and Gerringong areas, mostly among school-aged children.
“We’ve seen a drop in these rates over the past month and we would expect to see that trend continue.’’
Ms Lovatt said vaccination was the ‘’single best thing’’ to prevent whooping cough.
She urged pregnant women to take advantage of the free vaccine, with vaccination at 28 weeks gestation the most effective means of preventing infection in infants.
“Because immunity wanes over time, many children and adults who have not been vaccinated for several years can be susceptible and may be the source of new infections in newborns who are not old enough to be vaccinated,’’ she said.
“So it’s important that all people in contact with newborn babies are up to date with their … vaccines.’’
According to Ms Lovatt, the most recent development in protection against the disease was a new booster vaccination for babies at 18 months old.
Whooping cough notifications across NSW spiked last November –with 2096 notifications compared to 509 the previous November.
In December there were 1708 notifications statewide; 1322 in January; 1124 in February; and 882 in March.