MEDICUS FEBRUARY 2016

I MM U N I S A T I O N Pertussis remains public health priority I n the wake of the tragic and high profile death of Riley Hughes from pertussis in March 2015, and to date with information in this area. • Babies born to mothers who have had a pertussis vaccine in pregnancy

closely spaced (e.g. <2 years apart). The optimal time for pertussis vaccination is between 28-32 weeks of pregnancy, but the vaccine may be given at any time in the third trimester. Women who have received pertussis vaccine during or after a previous pregnancy should be re-vaccinated in the third trimester of their current pregnancy. • Antenatal pertussis vaccination is currently offered by WA Health for all women during their third trimester of pregnancy. Since the start of the program in March 2015, approximately 60 per cent of pregnant women in WA have received the vaccine (13,000 doses administered); no significant vaccine-associated adverse events have been reported. ■

with pertussis notifications active in Western Austtralia, the Communicable Disease Control Directorate (CDCD) has issued a vaccination update encouraging practitioners to promote pertussis vaccination to all pregnant clients. Increasing vaccination coverage has dramatically reduced the incidence of whooping cough among Australian children. However pertussis, or whopping cough, continues to be a highly infectious and dangerous disease, and remains a public health priority for WA. The AMA (WA) encourages all doctors with pregnant patients to promote pertussis vaccination, and to stay up

have higher levels of antibodies against the disease than babies whose mothers were not vaccinated and these antibodies are passed to the foetus in the womb. • These maternal antibodies can help protect the newborn during the first months of life when they are most vulnerable to severe pertussis infection and still too young to be vaccinated themselves. • The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations recommends pertussis vaccine (dTpa) be given during the third trimester of every pregnancy, including pregnancies which are

Number and rate of pertussis notifications in Western Australia, by month and year of disease onset, January 2011 – January 2016

Year Jan Feb Mar

Apr

May June July Aug Sept Oct

Nov Dec Total

Rate*

2011 187 144 101 104 152 146 245 386 530 535 765 710 4,005 169.9

2012 727 472 334 247 262 254 204 200 180 142 196 165 3,383 139.7

2013 150 121 135 112 109 104 120 160 159 171 159 143 1,643 66.4

2014 138 113 102 126 128 132 138 161 178 233 166 138 1,753 68.0

2015 141 120 117 94 111 137 143 186 171 185 237 174 1,816 68.4

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* Rate = annual crude rate per 100,000 population. Rates only provided for those years with complete data. ^Data for current and most recent reporting periods may be incomplete.

You can order the pertussis vaccines through the online vaccine ordering system https://dhswaonline.csldirect.com.au/

For more information on pertussis vaccination in pregnancy, please visit http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/N_R/ Pertussis-vaccination-for-pregnant-women

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