[guide.chat] whooping cough warning

From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2012 21:51:15 +0100
15 August 2012 Last updated at 14:24 
Whooping cough outbreak warning

The number of babies being vaccinated against the disease has reached record 
levels
Whooping cough outbreak spreading
Experts warn over whooping cough Watch
Whooping cough baby deaths' link
Scotland is experiencing the worst outbreak of whooping cough since the 1980s, 
according to health chiefs.

GPs have reported 873 cases so far this year, compared with only 36 for the 
same period last year.

Five babies have died elsewhere in the UK from the disease since the current 
outbreak which began at the end of last year.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) stressed the importance getting young babies 
vaccinated against the illness.

The disease can affect people of all ages, but its symptoms are generally most 
serious in very young infants.

The coughing fits associated with the disease can be so severe in babies that 
the supply of oxygen to the brain is cut, potentially with fatal consequences.

The problem is that the immunity the inoculation brings starts to wane as you 
get older?

Dr Martin Donaghy
Health Protection Scotland
No fatal cases of the disease have been recorded in Scotland so far this year.

Dr Martin Donaghy, health director of HPS, told BBC Radio Scotland that a rise 
in whooping cough cases had been expected as the disease has a three-year cycle.

But the scale of the current outbreak - which has also been seen in many other 
western European countries - was greater than had been anticipated.

He added: "It is the worst we've seen for some time. The group most at risk are 
infants, particularly very young infants under three months of age - that is 
where the disease does most damage.

"There certainly seems to have been a tipping point whereby a large proportion 
of the population are not immune and the germ is now spreading, particularly 
through the adult and adolescent population."

'Chronic coughing'
Babies are given the whooping cough vaccination in three doses when they are 
two, three and four months old, with take-up of the inoculation reaching a 
record 98%.

But Dr Donaghy explained: "The problem is that the immunity the inoculation 
brings starts to wane as you get older, and it diminishes to such an extent 
that it no longer provides sufficient protection."

He said a range of options were being looked at in a bid to cut the number of 
cases, including vaccinating adolescents, pregnant women and healthcare workers.

Dr Donaghy said the disease was often not diagnosed in adults.

He said: "There are many other causes for chronic coughing in an adult which 
are much more common, so as is usual you go for the common things first and 
then eventually we'll think maybe it will be whooping cough.

"It is really making sure that an infant gets the first dose of the vaccine at 
eight weeks - no wait, get it in at eight weeks and don't delay after that."

The main symptoms of the disease are severe coughing fits which are accompanied 
by a "whoop" sound as children gasp for breath.

Before routine vaccination were introduced in 1957, whooping cough outbreaks in 
the UK were on a huge scale. The disease could affect up to 150,000 people and 
kill 300 in a single year.


from
Vanessa The Google Girl.
my skype name is rainbowstar123
[guide.chat] whooping cough warning

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