Three southern Illawarra schools have been notified by the region’s public health department after several confirmed cases of whooping cough.
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A small number of students at Kemblawarra and Windang public schools, and one student at Warilla Public, have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness in recent weeks.
So far this year there’s been 57 confirmed cases within the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, with a dozen of those diagnoses in June.
However the region’s public health director Curtis Gregory said these figures were actually low compared to previous years.
“By comparison, by this time last year we’d had over 200 confirmed cases,” he said. “Hopefully the low numbers this year are an indication that the vaccination rate in this area of 97 per cent for five-year-olds is working.
“The majority of cases we’re seeing this year are in children aged five to nine, and they’re experiencing fairly mild symptoms, for a shorter timeframe, and so are less infectious to others.”
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a notifiable disease which means GPs, schools and child care centres must notify the public health unit when a case is diagnosed.
The condition can have serious complications and can be life threatening for babies and infants, so Mr Gregory encouraged parents and caregivers to remain vigilant.
“While the symptoms are milder for the cases we’ve seen, it can still be quite debilitating for children and the cough sounds really nasty and can be frightening for parents,” he said.
“If they have any concerns, or their child deteriorates, they should see their doctor straight away.”
A dry cough, which often worsens at night and comes in bouts; a sore throat and runny nose are the main symptoms of whooping cough, which is tested by a throat or nose swab.
The illness is treated with antibiotics, while vaccination is the best prevention.