Public Health has issued the following information about whooping cough:
KNOW THE FACTS ABOUT WHOOPING COUGH:
The Fredericton
area has been experiencing a whooping cough outbreak that began in January 2019.
There
are vaccines to help prevent whooping cough. Whooping cough vaccine is
recommended for:
Babies & children
Preteens & teens
Pregnant women
Adults
In the
regional outbreak, almost all adults with whooping cough did not have their
booster vaccine dose.
Children
get at least 5 vaccine doses to be fully protected against whooping
cough disease.
Whooping
cough is also known as pertussis and “the 100 day cough.”
Teenagers
should receive a booster dose of Pertussis containing vaccine, usually in grade
7.
Adults
should receive one dose of Pertussis containing vaccine to maintain
protection.
Pregnant
women should receive Pertussis containing vaccine with every
pregnancy,
Children
under one year can become very sick with whooping cough and develop
complications that require a stay in hospital. Infants are not old enough to have all the whooping cough vaccine doses to be fully protected.
Whooping
cough gets its name from the “whoop” sound made when somebody with the disease
gasps for air after a fit of coughing.
Talk
with your or your child’s health care professional or public health if you have
questions about whooping cough vaccines.
Wash
your hands often.
Stay
home from work and school if you are sick.
Cover a cough, throw out soiled
tissues.
You
can find more information about this disease in the available Fact Sheet at:
http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/h-s/pdf/en/CDC/FactSheets/Pertussisfactsheet.pdf
NB Routine Immunization Schedule: https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/h-s/pdf/en/CDC/Immunization/RoutineImmunizationSchedule.pdf