Vaccination protects all

The Taranaki District Health Board is urging pregnant women to vaccinate against whooping cough following 37 confirmed cases in the region so far this year.

‘‘The recommendation for vaccination during pregnancy is between 28 and 38 weeks so that immunity can be passed to the baby when they are born,’’ said Tesa Pilkinton, the TDHB antenatal clinic co-ordinator. ‘‘This immunity protects them until they get their first vaccinations at six weeks of age.

‘‘Immunising a pregnant woman offers protection to the mother, the unborn baby and the newborn baby. Once born, babies need to be immunised on time – at six weeks, three months and five months. They need three doses of the vaccine to be protected against whooping cough, even if mothers were immunised during pregnancy.’’

Whooping cough (or pertussis) is a highly contagious illness that is caused by a bacterium (Bordetella pertussis). It is spread by an infected person through droplets produced during coughing or sneezing, which is why it is important to keep babies away from people with coughs and to avoid coughing on babies.

Symptoms start with a runny nose and dry cough. The coughing gets worse over the next few

‘‘Once born, babies need to be immunised on time.’’

Tesa Pilkinton

weeks developing into attacks of coughing. The ‘whoop’ sound occurs as children draw a breath after a long coughing attack, although in some cases, there is no whooping sound. They may also vomit and stop breathing. The symptoms tend to be worse at night.

Jonathan Jarman, Taranaki DHB Medical Officer of Health said that most cases were in older people with the average age being 27 years old.

‘‘Although there have been no recent pertussis deaths in Taranaki, on average there are zero to one deaths each year in New Zealand. During the most recent whooping cough epidemic, there were three deaths in children: two in infants aged under six weeks and one in an unimmunised preschooler.’’

The Whooping Cough vaccination is free for children and pregnant women. There is a dropin immunisation clinic inside the antenatal clinic at Taranaki Base Hospital, which is open every Tuesday between 2-3pm.

Pregnant mothers can arrange a vaccination appointment through their midwife.