27 cases of whooping cough in Plymouth this year prompts new jab policy
PREGNANT women in and around Plymouth are to be vaccinated against whooping cough as part of a national drive to tackle the rampant disease.
The biggest outbreak of the infectious illness for two decades has already claimed the lives of nine babies under the age of three months in England this year.
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In the Plymouth PCT area there have been 27 cases this year to the end of August. There were only 12 cases in the area in the previous five years.
All pregnant women will now be offered vaccination against whooping cough when they are 28-38 weeks pregnant.
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Across England and Wales, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there had been 4,791 confirmed cases of whooping cough between January and August – more than four times the number reported during 2011.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s principal medical adviser, said mothers-to-be will be offered the vaccination to protect their newborn babies.
Youngsters cannot receive the jab until they are two months old. Vaccinating their mothers before they are born will boost their immunity until they reach the age they can get the injection themselves, Dame Sally said.
From Monday, women across the UK who are between 28 and 38 weeks pregnant will be offered the vaccination.
Increases in whooping cough are usually seen every three to four years. The last spike in the number of confirmed cases was recorded in 2008.
“Whooping cough is highly contagious and newborns are particularly vulnerable,” Dame Sally said
“It’s vital that babies are protected from the day they are born – that’s why we are offering the vaccine to all pregnant women.
“The idea is, because very young babies can’t make an immune response – an antibody against the vaccine – we are going to give this vaccine to the mothers so they make an antibody against it which will travel across the placenta into the baby.
“This will protect the baby from whooping cough up to the time of the first immunisation at eight weeks.”
However, the drug which is to be administered, Repevax, comes with the recommendation: “Limited post-marketing information is available on the safety of administering Repevax to pregnant women. The use of this combined vaccine is not recommended in pregnancy”.
But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation – the independent panel of experts which advises the Government – said it had “no concerns” about the safety of the vaccine, which protects against whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus and polio.
Dame Sally added: “Clearly we don’t want pregnant women taking medication of any form unless it’s necessary.
“But I can’t stress enough that this is an important thing that pregnant women can do to protect their baby.”
The vaccine is similar to the one used in the same programme in the US. It will be administered through routine antenatal appointments with nurses, midwives or GPs.
While whooping cough can cause nasty symptoms in adults, it does not usually cause any long-lasting complications and can be treated with antibiotics. But in the very young it can be a serious or deadly illness.
Caused by a highly-contagious bacterium called Bordetella pertussis, which can be passed from person to person through droplets in the air from coughing and sneezing, symptoms usually take between six and 20 days to appear after infection.
Babies and children often make a distressing “whoop” sound while gasping for air after a coughing fit, while older children and adults tend to suffer a prolonged cough.
Comments
by trudie2010
Sunday, September 30 2012, 9:27PM
“Looking at "chunder123"'s" comment, I would think he has been injected with something bad!”
by sasone2one
Sunday, September 30 2012, 7:29PM
“Back in the 70's there was a scare on about the whooping cough injection , I had already had my first son innoculated but refused to let my second son have it done. At the age of 4yrs old he caught the whooping cough its a nasty infection, the first few weeks are the worse but the cough goes on for months not weeks. In a very young baby I can see how it could kill them, with the heavy build up of a thick florenscent mucus, the difficulty in breathing and catching their breath when the coughing attack comes on.”
by jaberwocky311
Saturday, September 29 2012, 9:27PM
“it is a terrible disease,lets hope the mums to be take up the offer to be vaccinated.”
by sazziiee
Saturday, September 29 2012, 9:24PM
“My daughter had whooping cough at ten months old. She was fully immunised. My cousins two children had no jabs and had whooping cough. My daughter caught it from them. Never again would I ever wish to see a child as ill as my daughter was. Isolation in hospital while she was pumped full of antibiotics”
by Turnip-lover
Saturday, September 29 2012, 8:42PM
“Chunder 123, I presume from your comments you will never take any prescription medicine or have any medical procedure again? As every single drug and medical development involves research with animals.
I'm also interested how the goverment makes money from buying a vaccine from a company and administers it under the NHS. Please enlghten me?
I'm also interested to hear your evidence about vaccines that have caused major illness in your children.”
by Chunder123
Saturday, September 29 2012, 4:12PM
“remember the doctor who injects these into people has often had nothing to do with creating these vaccinations in the lab. HE doesn't know if its gonna kill anybody or not. ALso i would not allow something that had been tested on animals to be put into me. THey do all sorts of horrible tests on dogs and cats and that could means you suffer from the karma of inflicting suffering on another species. ask yourself would people who inflict such harm on animals care about the life of any specimen”
by Chunder123
Saturday, September 29 2012, 4:09PM
“Ideally i would want to know exactly what i was going to be injected with before having it done. Ignore the red marks on here guys from the numpty who just. SOme have said improvment in hygiene is was got rid of diseases and not vaccinations. Would you want to be injected with something made from chicken eggs or have that injected into your kids. most people have no idea what vaccinations are made from. that could cause all kinds of illnesses in children. Vaccinations might have introduced new disorders unknowingly. I personally think vaccinations on some babies have triggered illnesses in children who have reacted strangely. the government make big profit from vaccinations. If they cared for your life would they send you off to war to get killed?”
by Turnip-lover
Saturday, September 29 2012, 2:39PM
“9 Dead babies this year from whooping cough. How many have died from the vaccine? You would have to be stupid not to receive the vaccine.”
by Plymouthking
Saturday, September 29 2012, 10:45AM
“These Jabs are not fully tested full stop; they are a form of control rather than a medical necessity...”
by trudie2010
Saturday, September 29 2012, 10:45AM
“I could be wrong, but I'm guessing that whooping cough and measles are back because of those woolly brained women a couple of decades ago who wouldn't have their kids vaccinated. Good job we're not all that stupid, or smallpox would be back too.”