Whooping cough (Pertussis) outbreak in southern Alberta

Over the past two months there have been an increased number of confirmed Whooping cough (Pertussis) cases in Southern Alberta. This year there have been 34 confirmed cases. It is expected that there is more Pertussis circulating in the community, as many people with the disease may not seek medical attention.

Whooping cough starts as a mild cold but rapidly progresses to a severe cough that can include a gasping intake of breath that can sound like a whoop. Very young children may develop significant distress and require hospitalization. Recovery can take months.


“There are roughly one to three deaths in Canada each year due to pertussis and all of them have been in children too young to have begun their immunization,” says Dr. Otto Vanderkooi, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and researcher with the University of Calgary and Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, where a National study is planned to determine whether giving pregnant women the pertussis vaccine will protect their newborns for the first few months of life.

Even when it’s not fatal, whooping cough can still have serious consequences for the very young. Children can cough so hard they vomit. Other serious complications in young children may include pneumonia and seizures.

Whooping Cough (Pertussis) outbreak facts

Whooping cough (Pertussis)

• A highly contagious, bacterial infection of the lungs and airways.
• Pertussis can be a severe- even fatal -illness, particularly in children. In 2012, an infant inSouthern Alberta died from Pertussis.
• Children under one year of age are most likely to have serious illness as a result of Pertussis.

Signs and symptoms

• Pertussis illness starts with a runny nose, sneezing, fever and mild cough. Typically, over about a week, the cough will become more severe with repetitive coughing spells.
• In younger children, these coughing spells are usually followed by a "whooping" sound when inhaling. Vomiting following a coughing spell is also common.
• Older children and adults may experience milder symptoms, such as a prolonged cough with or without fits or whooping sound.
• The cough may last for two months or longer.

Why is the disease serious?

• Complications can include pneumonia, seizures, brain injury and death.
• Children under one year of age are most likely to require hospitalization.
• People with Pertussis are most contagious in the first three weeks after symptoms begin.

How you can protect your child?

1. Immunization is the best method to protect your child and limit the spread of disease to others.  Parents should ensure their children are vaccinated according to Alberta's Routine Childhood Immunization schedule: www.health.alberta.ca/health-info/imm-routine-scheduIe.html.
2. During the current outbreak in Southern Alberta, pregnant women in the third trimester (26 weeks) may receive Pertussis containing vaccine to protect herself and the child in the first weeks after birth.
3. It is recommended that immediate family members and caregivers who live in the same
4. Encourage your child to not share water bottles, lipstick, lip balm, drinks.

If you wish to immunize your children against Pertussis, or need to check immunization status, please call your local Public Health office to make an appointment.

Public Health offices in South Zone:

Lethbridge 403-388-6666

Bow Island 403-545-2296

Brooks 403-501-3333

Cardston 403-653-5230

Coaldale 403-345-3000

Crowsnest Pass 403-562-5030

Fort Macleod 403-553-5351

Magrath 403-758-4422

Medicine Hat 403-502-8214

Milk River 403-647-3430

Picture Butte 403-388-6751

Oyen 403-664-3651

Pincher Creek 403-627-1230

Raymond 403-752-5430

Taber 403-223-7230

Vauxhall 403-223-7229

Treatment

• A lab test will only be positive in the first three weeks after the start of symptoms.
• Antibiotics are effective in minimizing spreading Pertussis to others if given early after you start getting sick, although antibiotics may not change the course of Pertussis disease. Antibiotics will decrease the amount of time that you or your child must stay home.

Anyone diagnosed with Pertussis must:

• Stay at home from school, work, church, public places and other social settings for five days after the start of antibiotics.
• Stay home 21 days after the start of your symptoms if antibiotics are not taken.

Contacts of .confirmed cases with Pertussis

• Antibiotics are only recommended after contact with a confirmed case for individuals who live in a household with an infant under one year of age, and pregnant women in third trimester.
• It is, in general, NOT advised for contacts of confirmed cases (other than susceptible individuals as described above) to take antibiotics because: 

          - Unless given immediately after exposure, antibiotics may not prevent disease development.
          - With a large amount of disease in the community, children and adults will be continually exposed to the Pertussis bacteria.
          - Prolonged courses of antibiotics may result in side effects, as well as antibiotic resistance.

Contact your health care provider immediately if you suspect that you or your child has Pertussis.

For health advice and information, call Health Link Alberta, 24-hours a day, at 1-866-408-5465.
Pertussis vaccine study 

Researchers in Calgary are recruiting for a national project studying whether giving pregnant women the pertussis vaccine will protect their newborns for the first few months of life.

Newborns are particularly vulnerable to the potentially fatal respiratory infection – more commonly known as whooping cough – until at least partial immunity develops following immunization at the two-month mark.

“If the research shows that pregnant mothers who receive the pertussis vaccine pass on enough antibodies to their babies to provide protection, then it could be an effective strategy to eliminate or lessen the severity of the illness in the youngest and most vulnerable age group.”

Although widespread vaccination has helped limit the spread of pertussis, outbreaks still occur. There were 333 cases of pertussis in Alberta in 2012. Since 2011, two infants too young to have been immunized have died. Pertussis immunization in the province is part of the DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, acellular Pertussis) vaccine and is recommended at two, four, six and 18 months; again at four to six years; and again in Grade 9.

Researchers are hoping to enrol more pregnant moms in the study. To be eligible, the pregnancy must be considered low-risk. Study participants will randomly receive either the pertussis vaccine or a standard tetanus-diphtheria booster. Researchers will take samples of cord blood, the infant’s blood, the mother’s blood and breast milk, and will stay in touch during scheduled study visits and by phone until the baby is 18 months old.