What happens if i get pertussis while pregnant

Free pertussis vaccine is available for all pregnant women. This is usually given to pregnant women at 28 weeks can be given anytime between weeks of each pregnancy. Women at high risk of preterm delivery or unlikely to return at 28 weeks should be offered vaccination at 20 weeks.

Women not vaccinated before 32 weeks should still receive vaccination as soon as possible, at any time up until birth or immediately after. Antenatal pertussis vaccination protects newborns before they are able to have their own vaccinations from 6 weeks of age. Studies show that it is more than 90 per cent effective in preventing pertussis in infants. Two pertussis vaccines are provided free under the National Immunisation Program: Adacel and Boostrix.

Both vaccines are suitable to be administered in pregnancy. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. This is especially important if you or your partner are planning a pregnancy or are pregnant. Babies need to be vaccinated at 6 to 8 weeks of age, and again at 4 months and 6 months before they are sufficiently protected against the disease.

This is why they are particularly vulnerable before they reach the age of 6 months. Boosters should be given at ages 4 and 15 for the best protection during childhood. Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting children agaist certain diseases. Discover more about childhood vaccinations. However, if your child has not been vaccinated at the recommended ages, they can still receive a free catch-up vaccination against whooping cough up until 20 years of age.

Are you pregnant or planning a pregnancy? Learn more about how whooping cough during pregnancy can affect you and your baby. Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content. Find out about the symptoms of whooping cough, its treatment, the National Immunisation Program, and when you can get vaccinated against whooping cough.

What is whooping cough? Whooping cough is an infection caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis. Read more on Sydney Children's Hospitals Network website. Whooping cough is a highly infectious disease that causes sudden attacks of coughing that often end in a high-pitched whooping sound. The cough commonly persists for up to 3 months. Read more on myDr website.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease. Whooping cough can affect people of all ages but it is more serious for babies. Whooping cough can be prevented by immunisation. Treatment includes antibiotics. Read more on Department of Health website. Pregnant women can now get their free whooping cough vaccination earlier thanks to new guidelines in the National Immunisation Program.

Information about pertussis whooping cough disease, vaccines and recommendations for vaccination from the Australian Immunisation Handbook. Whooping cough starts like a cold, followed by a cough with a whooping sound. The number of cases was particularly high in , in line with the typical 3- to 4-yearly peak in disease rates. Babies can be infected by people with whooping cough in these older age groups, so it is still important for pregnant women to be vaccinated to protect their babies.

Yes, they are, but the babies that have been getting whooping cough are generally too young to have started their normal vaccinations, so they are not protected against the disease. The only way you can help protect your baby from getting whooping cough in their first few weeks after birth is by having the whooping cough vaccination yourself while you are pregnant.

After vaccination, your body produces antibodies to protect against whooping cough. You will then pass some immunity to your unborn baby. The whooping cough vaccine is not a "live" vaccine. This means it does not contain whooping cough or polio, diphtheria or tetanus , and cannot cause whooping cough in you, or in your baby. Whenever you have the whooping cough vaccine, your baby will still need to be vaccinated according to the normal NHS vaccination schedule when they reach 8 weeks old.

Babies are protected against whooping cough by the 6-in-1 vaccine. Yes, you can have the whooping cough vaccine when you get the flu vaccine, but do not delay your flu jab so that you can have both at the same time. The vaccine is available from your GP, though some antenatal clinics also offer it. You may be offered the vaccination at a routine antenatal appointment from around 16 weeks of your pregnancy.

If you are more than 16 weeks pregnant and have not been offered the vaccine, talk to your midwife or GP and make an appointment to get vaccinated. Yes, because any protection you may have had through either having whooping cough or being vaccinated when you were young is likely to have worn off and will not provide sufficient protection for your baby.

Yes, you should get re-vaccinated from 16 weeks in each pregnancy to maximise protection for your baby. Be alert to the signs and symptoms of whooping cough, which include severe coughing fits that may be accompanied by difficulty breathing or pauses in breathing in young infants or vomiting after coughing, and the characteristic "whoop" sound. Page last reviewed: 17 October Next review due: 17 October Home Pregnancy Keeping well in pregnancy Back to Keeping well in pregnancy.

Whooping cough vaccination in pregnancy. Why are pregnant women advised to have the vaccine? Getting vaccinated is the best way to lower the risk of getting whooping cough. You can have whooping cough without realizing it and infect others.

This is especially important to know for people who are going to be around babies or pregnant women. Any time you have a runny nose or cough, you should stay away from high-risk people, and make sure you are vaccinated before seeing them.

Whooping cough is always active in our state. In a typical year, Washington has anywhere between and cases of whooping cough, but in we had an epidemic with nearly cases. In the past 20 years, whooping cough has caused as many as two deaths in some years with no deaths in other years. Most outbreaks in Washington are local, with a variation in cases from county to county. Some areas report a high number of cases and others have none. Find the current number of whooping cough cases in Washington PDF , or the number of whooping cough cases reported in past years.

Our statewide case count of 4, during the epidemic of was well above what we expect to see in an average year—the highest level since , when 4, cases were reported. The pace of new whooping cough cases slowed after the epidemic, but some communities are beginning to see higher numbers again. Getting vaccinated and staying away from others when you are sick are the best ways to slow the spread of whooping cough and protect people at highest risk, like babies and pregnant women.

Only about one out of every 10 cases gets reported to public health because:. Talk to your doctor, nurse, or clinic as soon as you learn that you have been exposed. You may be given antibiotics to treat your infection and make the infection less serious, especially if you start it early. Try to stay away from other people until you have completed the first 5 days of treatment or until another diagnosis for the cough is given and you know that you are not contagious.

If you think you or one of your family members has whooping cough, call your doctor, nurse, or clinic and ask to be evaluated for whooping cough. Employers should talk with their Human Resources office to understand their company policies, procedures, and labor agreements, and work with their local health agency if they have questions about when a person with whooping cough can safely return to work.

Employers should not share individual employee health information with others. They get it from close face-to-face contact with people who have whooping cough. Back to Top. People of all ages should get a whooping cough vaccine. Which vaccine you need depends on your age. Vaccination is the best protection against whooping cough, and helps to reduce the risk to yourself, vulnerable infants, and pregnant women.

Tdap; one dose as early as possible during the third trimester between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation of each pregnancy. The first dose of DTaP vaccine is recommended at two months. Talk to your health care provider if you think your baby may be at increased risk of getting whooping cough.

Not getting recommended vaccines on time puts children and teens at higher risk for getting and spreading whooping cough. All adults should get one dose of the Tdap vaccine. Pregnant women need Tdap with each pregnancy. When someone gets whooping cough, their body develops a natural immunity. While you may not have direct contact with babies, you may be around them in public places such as the grocery store or the library. Babies often catch whooping cough from an adult or family member who may not even know they have the disease.

Babies who get whooping cough often have to be hospitalized and could die. According to data from the National Immunization Survey NIS , here are the vaccination rates in for children and adolescents in Washington:.

The national adult Tdap rate in was 22 percent, according to the National Health Interview Survey. Typically, more than 90 percent of a population must be vaccinated against a disease to produce general protection for the population. Making sure you and those around you are up to date on whooping cough vaccine is your best chance to protect yourself and your family from this serious disease. While it is not perfect, the whooping cough vaccine is the best available protection against the disease.

It helps protect both the person who gets the vaccine and those around them who are most vulnerable to severe whooping cough or complications like babies and pregnant women.

We know that the protection received from any of the available whooping cough vaccines is fairly good 73 to 98 percent effective in the first year after receiving the vaccine, but it does wear off over time. In the same way, people that had whooping cough in the past gradually become susceptible to the disease in about five to ten years.

Sometimes when vaccinated people are exposed, they get whooping cough anyway, although they usually have milder symptoms, a shorter illness, and may be less likely to spread the disease to others.

Protection is high—about 98 percent—within the first year after getting the fifth DTaP dose. It goes down to about 70 percent by five years later, and may continue to gradually go down after that.