March 2009 - Health Warning on Whooping Cough

The Chief Health Officer of the Department of Human Services Victoria has announced a sharp increase in babies with whooping cough (pertussis). If your baby has whooping cough they often require hospitalisation. Whooping cough kills 1 in 200 babies that catch it.

We recommend that you check that all members of your household are up to date with their immunisations including children and adults. Whooping cough is highly contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing.

An adult whooping cough booster is recommended if you have not recently had a whooping cough booster. Your baby's first whooping cough vaccination is available when they are two months old.

Use In Pregnancy

Adequate human data on use during pregnancy and adequate animal reproduction studies are not available. Therefore, Boostrix should be used during pregnancy only when clearly needed and the possible advantages outweigh the possible risks for the fetus. When protection against tetanus is sought, consideration should be given to tetanus or combined diphtheria tetanus vaccines. As with all inactivated vaccines, one does not expect harm to the fetus.

If you have any questions please discuss it with us or your general practitioner.

You can find out more information about whooping cough from the Better Health Channel.