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Health department confirms first case of whooping cough
TOO YOUNG FOR SHOT:
The first person to come down with the sickness this year was a one-month-old boy who had not yet been immunized
STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008, Page 4
The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Monday the first case of whooping cough to be reported this year.
Lin Ting (林頂), deputy chief of the DOH Centers for Disease Control, said the patient was a one-month-old baby boy who displayed the symptoms of intermittent coughing and wheezing on Feb. 27.
His illness was reported as a suspected case of whooping cough when he was admitted to hospital on March 5.
His condition stabilized after treatment.
The patient was not old enough to have been vaccinated and the DOH suspects he was infected by his mother, Lin said.
"The mother had a cough during the Lunar New Year holiday in early February, but the patient's father and six-year-old brother had no similar symptoms," Lin said.
He said whooping cough mostly affects infants in their first year, adding that infants can suffer complications such as pneumonia, which can prove fatal.
Children are required to be given four shots of DPT -- a three-in-one vaccine -- to immunize against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus before they reach the age of 18 months, although the DOH still finds about two dozen whooping cough cases every year, Lin said.
"Fortunately, none of these cases have been fatal," he said.
Considering the fact that immunity against whooping cough diminishes between five and 10 years after vaccination, the center has already purchased additional vaccine.
"If everything goes well, first graders in elementary schools will be able to get the additional vaccines as early as September," he said.
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