WAGGA is in the grips of an unprecedented whooping cough outbreak, with rates of the deadly illness more than quadrupling in the last month.
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In June, Murrumbidgee Local Health District recorded 47 cases of whooping cough in Wagga, compared to just 15 reportings from the rest of the region.
Murrumbidgee Local Health District public health unit director Tracey Oakman said typically Wagga saw less than 10 cases of whooping cough every month.
She said most of the city’s reported cases were in the 10 to 14 years age group.
“Then we have a small peak in 45-year-old age group, and in females,” Mrs Oakman said.
“That is often the mums or parents of the kids.”
Mrs Oakman the region had a high rate of infant immunisation against whooping cough but the vaccine would wear off after a few years.
“There is still a benefit to being vaccinated as you get it milder than you would otherwise,” she said.
“The vaccine in any case is about 85 per cent protective.”
Whooping cough would leave sufferers with a persistent cough for two to three months, but posed a big risk to infants.
“One in 200 babies who contract whooping cough who are less than six months old will die from it,” Mrs Oakman.
“It is a terrible disease for babies.”
School authorities have been taking fast measures to prevent the disease, with Marter Dei Catholic College notifying parents on Wednesday that their children may have been exposed.
Kildare Catholic College assistant principal Simon Huntly told The Daily Advertiser two school students had been struck down, with parents immediately notified via text message on Monday night.
Blamey Street Surgery general practitioner Max Graffen said he had diagnosed at least four children with whooping cough in the last month.
“I’ve probably seen about four to five confirmed cases in the past weeks,” he said.
”Kids around nine, 10, 11 years.”
Normally he would diagnose no more than one case every 30 days, Dr Graffen said.
The spike in cases was surprising given the high rate of immunisation Wagga boasted, however he speculated it could be the result of a less effective vaccine strain given to those in age groups the cough was presenting in.
Both Mrs Oakman and Dr Graffen said it was important that those with the illness were diagnosed and prescribed antibiotics, which would prevent further spread. “What the doctor can do is they can give you antibiotics which will stop you being infectious anymore,” Mrs Oakman said.
