Whooping Cough question?

[*EJ*]

My mum has just called me to say there's a possability she has whooping cough.

She has had to have a blood test and possibly an chest x-ray (i'm not certain because as soon as she said whooping cough i wasn't really listening and was thinking of my children) to know for sure but it's likely.

All three of my children are immunised as well as DH and I. Are we all ok? Her Dr has said we are but i'm still a little worried. At the moment my children are fine and healthy. My mum was here this afternoon before her appt but was cautious of not getting too close to the kids, although she did have a hug with DD.

Even if we don't get it ourselves can we carry it without knowing it?

May be silly questions i'm sorry

I'm just frustrated at her, would you believe that her immunisation is sitting IN MY FRIDGE!!!

There was a delay last year some time in actually being able to get it and when she finally had the chance to get it she was umming and arrhhing about whether or not to go get it, she was living with us at the time and when i heard her possibly going to say NO i butted in and told her to TAKE IT. And it's sat in my fridge since, it could be close to year that it's sat there, who knows if it's even in date anymore

So a bit of a vent in there also i'm sorry but can i be assured that this is what we have immunisations for and we will not need to be worried about it at all?

[willow5]

Hi EJ, basically no you guys are not all clear even though you've had the vaccination. It is not 100% effective and does not cover all strains of whooping cough. At the moment there is quite a lot of the strain not covered by the vac around so it may not have mattered that your mum didn't have her vac because it may be a different strain anyway.

Be sensible, get your mum to keep her distance until she knows for sure, which you really should do with kids/babies when you're not well anyway.

Hope she doesn't have WC and feels better soon

[*EJ*]

Thanks Willow. Not very reasuring is it with regards to vacinating and thinking everything should be ok?

Will keep our distance for a while i think. And keep a close eye on my little ones.

Thank you

[Tinks]

Whooping cough is a notifiable disease. If your mum does have it the dr will notify the health dept and they will get in touch with her and give her all the information she will need about the disease, she will also be able to ask them any questions she has. They may even get in touch with you seeing as she was around your kids and they are so young.

[LizLemon]

Has your mum had much contact with the kids before this afternoon? How long has she been sick for? I have heard varying info on contagious periods, from 4-5 days (from onset of cold symptoms) to up to 3 weeks, so you might be able to work out whether there is a likelihood of it being passed on. And as Willow said, the current vaccine is only 85% effective.

Be on the look out for cold symptoms first, and maybe just stay away from any really small bubbas until your mum gets her test back.

I really hope it's not WC or if it is that your family hasn't caught it

[Arcadia]

Hope the dr gives her the all clear

[*EJ*]

Thanks ladies.

My mum spent the day with us 2 fridays ago and as far as i know she was fine. I then spoke to her on the phone this Thursday and she sounded and felt sick again. This morning she was saying she woke up at 1am and had half an hour coughing/chocking fit and she is sweating like crazy. I saw her yesterday and today. DS1 has had a very slight clear runny nose since late last week but seems ok in himself i think. The other two are fine.

I suppose we'll just have to see what the results come back as and take it from there. We're not personally in contact with any young bubbas at the moment but will be sure to keep our distance if we do happen to see any.

I hope it comes back as negative and she's just got a horrible flu. I hope everyone around me stays healthy

Thanks again ladies.

[*EJ*]

I've been thinking about it and i'm a little concerned about kinder now. DS1 is still ok but i can hear in him that there's a little 'something', he says he doesn't have a sore throat or anything. But once i know for sure what mum's diagnosis is, if it is whooping cough should i let the kinder know? Because there are tiny bubbas there, i think ones about 5 or 6 weeks and ones about 12 weeks. I chat to their mums when we're dopping off and picking up but nothing all that close. Still i would hate to pass anything on in any way what so ever.

Would i need to keep DS away?

[LizLemon]

If it were me, yes I would probably speak to Kinder and let them know the situation. If there are tiny bubbas that are very vulnerable, then I would want to ensure that they are safe.

You said in your first post that it was likely that your mum had it. She's had contact with your DS, and your DS now has symptoms which while could be many benign things, are also consistent with the start of WC. I think there's enough there to be at least a bit suspicious that your DS could be infected, which warrants the necessary precautions.

I'm sorry you are going through this

[Little Chicken]

Let kinder know of the possibility of whooping cough, and then tell them either way once you know.

Also throw out the vaccination in the fridge it will be useless now, and for anyone else out there that has to pick up their own vaccinations, give it as soon as possible after picking it up. Home fridges generally aren't cold enough or are opened too many times to keep them in there.

[*EJ*]

I've spoken to my mum again today and she was told that clinicly with the signs she is showing the Dr can diagnose WC, she has been and had her blood test and chest x-ray and needs to wait for the results. He did say that it's actaully still not guaranteed to show up in the results anyway

We ended up having words on the phone as she takes this Dr's word as gospel with everything and tried to tell me again that he says we'll all be fine because we're immunised. Not fun

Her cough is terrible, she was on antibiotics prior to yesterdays appt and because what she has has not responded there is nothing else to give her.

I called nurse on call and expalined the situation, DS1 with his slight runny nose and kinder. She said as my mum doesn't go anywhere near kinder it should be fine, even with DS's 'symptoms' we don't know if it'll eventuate to anything. So she was implying that it wasn't necessary to say anything but i don't know that i'm comfortable with that.

My mum will call me later today if she knows anymore but in the mean time DS has kinder tomorrow morning. I'll decide what to do before the end of the day i think.

Thanks ladies, it's not the best situation to be in

[willow5]

Ah, no if your mum has a strain that is not covered by the vac you're not ok. Even if she does have the strain covered buy the vac it's not 100% effective she she needs to be sensible and stay away. You sound so frustrated I think after she's been treated with the antibiotics for a certain time (can't remember off hand how long sorry) that she'll be ok to not spread it any more. Maybe you can call your doctors office or health first line and ask how long after antiBs start are you safe to not be contagious.

[smallmum]

My kiddies had it last year. I am anul about vaccinations, and they still caught it! Our doc took swabs from back of mouth, no bloods or xrays. 3 out of 4 where possitive. We all had a 14 day period of antibiodic and stayed home. The cough lasts longer but after 14 day is no longer catchy (with antibiodic) I am so worried about another bout of WC when we have baby, my other kids 2-10yrs at the time, recovered well, and where playing and bounc,ing of th,e walls!

I also had WC while pregnant in 2005, leaky bladder was the worst symptom!!

We've had notes sent home alreaddy about recent WC in our school comunity :-[

[willow5]

My kiddies had it last year. I am anul about vaccinations, and they still caught it! Our doc took swabs from back of mouth, no bloods or xrays. 3 out of 4 where possitive. We all had a 14 day period of antibiodic and stayed home. The cough lasts longer but after 14 day is no longer catchy (with antibiodic) I am so worried about another bout of WC when we have baby, my other kids 2-10yrs at the time, recovered well, and where playing and bounc,ing of th,e walls!

I also had WC while pregnant in 2005, leaky bladder was the worst symptom!!

We've had notes sent home already about recent WC in our school comunity :-[

Glad everyone recovered well Smallmum!

There you go EJ 14 days with antiBs before your mum's all clear

[Tegam]

How'd your kids go? Did they get sick?

[*EJ*]

All is good and mum has finally cleared up aswell. I think the test came back as not WC but Dr said that was a possability even if she did have it. Don't know why... So don't really know if it was WC or not now. Thanks for checking on us

[~ Mylitta ~]

Hi EJ, basically no you guys are not all clear even though you've had the vaccination. It is not 100% effective and does not cover all strains of whooping cough. At the moment there is quite a lot of the strain not covered by the vac around so it may not have mattered that your mum didn't have her vac because it may be a different strain anyway.

Be sensible, get your mum to keep her distance until she knows for sure, which you really should do with kids/babies when you're not well anyway.

Hope she doesn't have WC and feels better soon

Couldn't have said it better myself. A couple of years back my two step sons both got whooping cough despite being "fully" vaccinated. One had a nasty lingering cough for 3-4 months. Evenmy vaccinated husband got a mild cough which was probably whooping cough. Myself and my son are not vaccinated for whooping cough, and neither of us caught it at all. When we questions the doctors as to why the vaccinated kids caught it, we were told the most common strain of whooping cough around at the moment is not covered at all by the vaccination, and therefore the vaccinated kids actually had no immunity to it. It's possible that at some stage I had this strain of whooping cough and developed immunity to it which I passed on to my son through my breastmilk...

[*EJ*]

That's really interesting Mylitta. I have never really questioned immunisations before but i do understand how some have different beliefs and choose otherwise. Especially when you explain your circumstance.

I still shake my head at my mother's doctor's attitude that 'everyone will be fine' when quite obviously that's not the case whether you are immunised or not. He should know better. And my mum believes him before anyone else

Anyway thankfully everyone seems to be fine