SCHOOLS are issuing warnings about whooping cough after a spate of cases in the Mount Martha area. It is understood there have been cases recorded at Balcombe Grammar and Mount Martha Primary School. There are fears that families may not be aware of the easy spread of the infection, which requires all sufferers to be on antibiotics for at least five days.
In Victoria, children with pertussis (whooping cough) but who have not had the required antibiotic treatment must not go to primary school and children’s service centres for 21 days after the onset of the cough. Unimmunised contacts under seven years old in the same room as the case must also not go to primary school and children’s services centres for 14 days from the last exposure to the infection, or until they received five days of antibiotic treatment.
One Mornington Peninsula parent whose children had not been affected said some parents were ignoring the warnings and sending their children to school regardless. “I understand the difficulties of getting into the doctors and parents working but, given the number of children who play sport together on the peninsula, this will spread quickly,” she said. She said most doctors were aware of the issue and had been testing children.
The Victorian Health Department states that the bacteria that causes whooping cough can adhere to the cells of the respiratory tract and release toxins that cause local tissue damage that contribute to cough symptoms by disrupting mucus clearance. Patients may have symptoms of nasal discharge and sneezing, cough, tiredness and sometimes a low-grade fever.
First published in the Mornington News – 21st May 2024
