Officials warn of disease outbreak

PARENTS of children at two Cairns schools have been warned to be on the lookout for symptoms of whooping cough after health officials confirmed another case of the disease yesterday.

The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service has urged parents to ensure children are up to date with their whooping cough (pertussis) immunisation and are aware of potential symptoms after the disease was identified at Edge Hill Primary School.

Cairns State High School principal Christopher Zilm also wrote to parents warning them of a potential outbreak after a student was diagnosed with whooping cough.

“Please be advised that the younger sibling of two Cairns State High students (Year 8 and Year 9) has been diagnosed with whooping cough,” he said.

“The girls’ mother has contacted me tonight because both older girls, despite having been immunised for whooping cough, are also coughing and feeling unwell.

“They have commenced a course of antibiotics and will be away from school for the required five days.”

Cairns Tropical Public Health Services director Dr Richard Gair said, at this stage, there had been no further notified cases of whooping cough at the school, nor at Cairns State High School since a single case was confirmed there early last month.

Whooping cough is a highly infectious illness that can cause sickness at any age, particularly for children under one year old.

Latest Queensland Health figures reveal there were 33 whooping cough diagnoses in the Cairns and Hinterland region between the start of the year and February 26 – more than double the average.