A new analysis has found hospitals are seizing the opportunity to vaccinate more Australians against whooping cough, a disease that is infecting the population at record rates.
A study by the Immunization Foundation of Australia shows that few hospitals stock a whooping cough-containing booster to inject patients with tetanus-prone wounds.
That’s despite health guidance recommending that emergency departments use the combined vaccine in routine wound treatment to boost protection against whooping cough (whooping cough), with studies suggesting immunization levels are “concerningly low”.
Australia is in the grip of an unprecedented outbreak of whooping cough, an infection that can be life-threatening for babies and young children.
Authorities have been notified of 80,000 cases in the past two years, a record high.
Often referred to as the ‘100 day cough’, the bacterial infection attacks the respiratory tract and causes uncontrollable coughing and difficulty breathing.
It is more contagious than the flu or COVID-19.
Immunization Foundation founder Catherine Hughes said an opportunity was being missed to increase immunization rates against the dangerous disease.
“It is unacceptable that so many vaccines used in Australian hospitals against tetanus do not provide additional protection against whooping cough, despite established national recommendations,” she said.
Hughes lost her 32-day-old son Riley to the disease a decade ago.
The vaccine advocacy group’s survey found that 401 of 469 hospitals had the older diphtheria and tetanus vaccine in stock, not the vaccine that also protects against whooping cough and costs a few dollars extra per dose.
Previous research found that a million adults over 50 had received the older vaccine instead of the recommended whooping cough combination shot when seeking protection against tetanus.
Raina MacIntyre, head of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales’ Kirby Institute, said vaccinating adults was key to controlling the outbreak.
“Adults are a big part of the massive whooping cough epidemic we’ve seen unfold in Australia, so vaccinating adults is part of the solution,” MacIntyre said.
“Whooping cough is fatal for babies, but has also caused serious complications in adults.”
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