Public Health officials have been tracking whooping cough reports in the Moncton area since August, and with 30 cases reported this year, New Brunswick’s medical officer of health has declared an outbreak.
“The links between the cases we saw initially, we weren’t seeing it anymore, and cases were spreading out within the region, which at that point is when I decided to declare it an outbreak,” says Dr. Yves Leger.
Two people have been diagnosed at the Universite de Moncton and the campus community has been notified.
While anybody can contract the highly contagious respiratory tract infection, doctors are most worried about infants and young children, for whom the violent, persistent cough can be fatal.
Parent Katie Drysdale does all she can to protect her children, but says she’s depending on others to do their part.
“Very scared, a little helpless in a way because as a parent, you try to keep your kids from getting sick,” says Drysdale. “I know multiple people right now with infant babies and for them it could be deadly, so you never know.”
In New Brunswick, the whooping cough vaccine is administered at two, four, six and 18 months of age.
For newborns, full protection takes time.
“Public Health is offering to immunize those with higher risk, so pregnant women who are in their third trimester, their partners, or any very close contacts with newborns,” says Leger.
Adults are also urged to check with their doctors to see if they may require a booster shot.
“We know that the protections tend to wane or drop with time,” says Leger.
About 1,400 reports of whooping cough were recorded in New Brunswick in 2012, and Leger says the cases tend to jump every three to five years.
He says anyone who wants the vaccine can ask their family doctor or Public Health, and that it can be administered at the same time as the flu shot.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore
