South Australians are being urged to take precautions against whooping cough as the state experiences a “massive increase” in cases.
The number of reported cases is already 13 times higher than the number reported this time last year, according to SA Health.
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said it was “really critical” for pregnant women and infants to be vaccinated against whooping cough (pertussis) and for older children and adults to get booster shots.
“It’s been going up and up,” she said of the current wave.
“Over the last month of November … we’ve had really high case numbers.”
That wave was being predominantly “pushed along” by older children, with 40 per cent of current cases aged between 10 and 14, Professor Spurrier said.
She urged parents of children in this age group to make use of the public health booster program offered through schools.
South Australia experiences a whooping cough wave every four to five years, Professor Spurrier said.
The last time was in 2016, when approximately 1,900 cases were recorded. The number of reported cases has so far climbed to 1,349, according to SA Health.
Nicola Spurrier urged parents of young children to make use of vaccination booster programs. (ABC News: Ethan Rix)
While other respiratory virus rates like influenza and RSV are down, whooping cough numbers were expected to keep rising as people got together for end-of-year celebrations.
The initial symptoms for whooping cough included a runny nose and coughing before developing into a “very persistent cough that can go on and on and on”, Professor Spurrier said.
Babies who experience these intense coughing spasms are unable to get enough oxygen into their system and, therefore, into their brains, which is how the disease can prove fatal.
Pregnant women are offered a free vaccination between 20 and 23 weeks’ gestation. Then once the baby is born, they should be vaccinated at six weeks, two months and four months and then get a booster at 18 months and then again at four years.
