Whooping Cough

[sasher]

Last week our son's best friend was sent home from school with suspected whooping cough. The child is immunised so he did not get it too severely but he is still booked off school for quite a while.

Whooping cough is running rife in Australia at the moment and it is especially dangerous to the elderly, babies who have not yet been vaccinated (one died two weeks ago in Melbourne), pregnant ladies and of course unimmunised kids.

The government is offering free boosters to adults who work or live with kids. The DTP which we all got as kids only has about a twenty year life span so if you are around or have kids, it is worthwhile to get the shot. Grannies and Grandpas are also encouraged to get the booster. If you are moving to Australia soon, make sure your kids are up to date.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/225025-Australia-Whooping-Cough-Epidemic-Hits-Coast

[HansaPlease]

Very timely post. We found out yesterday that an elderly family friend who had been playing with our four month old little princess was diagnosed with Whooping cough a few days later. We're nervously hoping that she hasn't been exposed. I went down and got my free booster yesterday, and our little one had her second course as well. Now we have a nervous wait.

Defintely get your immunisations up to date if you are in contact with little ones. Many years ago my 17 month old cousin lost her life to whooping cough.

[cristel]

My son of 9 also contracted Whooping couch in December. THe GP said nah, he was immunised, it wont be Whooping cough. I said test him, just in case. He tested positive, and the next day they put him on the antibiotics for whooping cough. So what he had was 'mild', but if that coughing was 'mild' I would rather not see 'severe'