AHS warns of whooping cough outbreak in southern Alberta

Alberta Health Services say children are most at risk of whooping cough, but protection is available through routine childhood immunizations.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) says 16 people are sick with pertussis – better known as whooping cough – in several southern Alberta communities.

The agency says, as of Thursday, three of those patients are in hospital.

The areas impacted by the outbreak include Lethbridge County, Coaldale, Taber, Vauxhall, Grassy Lake and Bow Island.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection with symptoms very similar to a cold or flu – runny nose, sneezing, fever and a mild cough – but the cough becomes much more severe as the illness progresses.

It gets its name from coughing spells in youngsters who make a 'whooping' sound when inhaling.

AHS says young children are at the greatest risk and complications from whooping cough include pneumonia, convulsions, brain damage and even death.

Routine vaccinations for children provide protection against pertussis, and cases are usually treated with antibiotics.

According to the province's interactive health data application, a significant portion of South Zone's population under two years old has received all four doses of the DTaP-IPV/Hib vaccine, which is a combination immunization that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Haemophilius influenzae type B:

• One dose - 83.6 per cent coverage in 2021;
• Two doses - 81.31 per cent coverage in 2021;
• Three doses - 79.1 per cent coverage in 2021;
• Four doses - 62.2 per cent coverage in 2021; and
• Booster (administered at age 7) - 77.1 per cent in 2021.

Further information about whooping cough can be found online.