Whooping cough flares up in South Surrey high school

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – The grade 8 class at Semiahmoo Secondary School has seen a spike in whooping cough cases, prompting the Fraser Health Authority to alter their immunization schedule.

Medical health officer Arlene King says the disease started popping up in late September.

She adds that this cluster of cases is unusual because it appears to be contained to one classroom in which the students are up to date with their immunizations for the most part.

“We have noticed over the last few years, not just in British Columbia but elsewhere in Canada and globally, that there appear to be children who are getting pertussis (whooping cough) who have had their full dose of vaccines, and that immunity tends to wane a little bit earlier than what we would have expected,” King says.

A booster shot is usually offered in grade 9, but the affected class at Semiahmoo will be getting their shots early in response to the cases.

King stresses that the vast majority of whooping cough cases in Canada show up in children who have not been immunized against it.

“It’s a serious disease for anyone at any age, but its particularly worrisome in very young children, particularly babies who… may actually just stop breathing when they get that infection,” she says.

Around one to three babies in Canada die as a result of whooping cough every year.

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