A campaign to spread coverage of free vaccines among Hume school students will be undertaken after a 275 per cent spike in the number of whooping cough cases reported this year.
Health Department figures obtained by Star Weekly reveal 139 cases were reported in the year to July 1 – up from 37 in 2014.
There have been 23 cases so far this year in the Macedon Ranges, down from 28 in 2014.
Hume council and GPs have urged parents to attend a series of “catch-up” immunisation sessions being held in October in a bid to halt the spread of the highly contagious disease.
More than 1200 students did not receive booster vaccines during the council’s most recent visits to schools because families did not return consent forms.
Mayor Adem Atmaca said it was important young people were properly immunised.
He said the council had previously offered the vaccine to all year 10 students but would roll out injections for every year 7 student from next year, with high rates of whooping cough in residents aged 12 to 15.
‘‘Whooping cough is a terrible illness and it can be very debilitating for sufferers, many of whom exhibit a prolonged cough that can last up to three months,’’ Cr Atmaca said. ‘‘The condition is highly contagious and extremely serious for babies.’’
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, kills one in every 125 infants under six months who develop the illness.
“That’s a tragedy when such a simple vaccine can prevent its spread,” Cr Atmaca said.
Tristar Medical Group senior manager Anne Gardner said constant vigilance was required, with high vaccination rates crucial to general community health.
‘‘Our doctors urge vulnerable members of the community – adolescents, pregnant women and the elderly – to please have those immunisations,’’ she said.
Ms Gardner said whooping cough was a terrible disease.
“The symptoms are extremely uncomfortable and it goes for an extended period of time … babies are at extreme risk of mortality,” she said. “Our infants and the elderly rely on the rest of the community being vaccinated.”
Catch-up sessions will be held at the Craigieburn Function Rooms from 5.30-7.30pm on October 12, Sunbury Memorial Hall from 5.30-7.30pm on October 21, and Hume Global Learning Centre from 6.30-8pm on October 27.
