Dead child warning to parents

Press, 21 December 1978, Page 1

Dead child warning to parents

An outbreak of whooping cough in Christchurch which has killed one infant and caused about 30 others to be admitted to hospital in the last two months would have been much less severe if parents had had their children immunised against the disease, according to a Christchurch pediatrician. “It is all very well going on about coronary heart units,” said Dr G. D. Abbott, senior lecturer in pediatrics at the Christchurch Clinical School. “Here we have a preventable disease which could be restricted if proper health measures were taken.” Dr Abbott said that the present outbreak of whooping cough, which is highly infectious, is not an epidemic, "but there are more cases at present than we have seen in the last five years.” Nor was the upsurge in cases peculiar to Christchurch. More cases were also coming in to Dunedin hospitals and he would be surprised if this was not also happening elsewhere in New Zealand. Although there are always a few cases of whooping cough about, it tends to occur “in a cyclical way,” according to Dr Abbott; usually every two or three years in spring and summer. Many of the children who

have been admitted to hospital had not been immunised and both Dr Abbott and Dr M. A. Btiesemati. the Deputy Medical Officer of Health, expressed concern about the "almost irresponsible” attitude of parents to the immunisation of their children. Infants under the age of six months were particularly vulnerable to the disease, said Dr Abbott. Only 60 per cent to 70 per cent of children in Christchurch had been immunised against whooping cough, diptheria, and tetanus. An injection against all three was given at three months and five months, with a booster at 18 months. Immunisation was free. Whooping cough starts like a cold which does not get better, according to Dr Abbott. After a few days the cough becomes a prominent feature, coming in bouts which are often triggered by feeding, noise, or a disturbance. The "whoop” which gives the infection

its name occurs at the end of the cough. During a bout, a child may go blue or have a fit at the end. possibly becoming unconscious. “That is when babies die," said Dr Abbott.

“Infants need to be tn hospital but those over the age of one can be treated at home under a doctor's instructions.”