Whooping coughdiagnosed at college
Another high school student in the Wellington region has been diagnosed with whooping cough.
On Friday, Paraparaumu College alerted students and parents that a student had been infected.
Meanwhile, a Wainuiomata mum says her family were also infected after medical professionals said several times her son did not have whooping cough.
The Paraparaumu alert came a day after Regional Public Health told students, parents, and staff that a student at Onslow College in the Wellington suburb of Johnsonville had been diagnosed with the sickness.
The Paraparaumu College student would have been infected for the past two weeks, a note the school posted on Facebook said.
Wainuiomata resident Elyce Davies said her son was infected this summer for as many as three weeks, despite contrary advice from doctors.
‘‘We went to the doctors and they were like ‘no, he doesn’t have it’.’’
Her son, 4, was asthmatic and the doctors first thought he had asthma-related problems, possibly bronchitis, she said.
‘‘Four times I’ve been to my GP, after hours, and the hospital once. On the fifth time back to my GP she did a throat swab and that came back positive,’’ Davies said.
‘‘For the three weeks leading up to that he was going to kindy and I was going to work, and my two older kids were going to school.’’
Davies got whooping cough too, as did her two older children. ’’We’re all vaccinated as well.’’
The kindergarten alerted parents and ‘‘did the right thing,’’ she said.
The latest cases follow a cluster of infections of the so-called ‘‘100-day cough’’ in Wellington over the festive season.
The Paraparaumu alert said Regional Public Health received several notifications of the illness in adults and children. It recommended staff and pupils see a doctor if they had a persistent cough.
The college reminded parents to keep children up to date with immunisations.
Whooping cough usually starts with a runny nose and an irritating cough, which lasts 1-2 weeks. Fits of coughing then develop.
The illness spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes, spraying droplets from the nose or throat.