Gabriola Island hit by whooping cough

Tamara Cunningham/Nanaimo Daily News / Times Colonist
January 10, 2013

Health officials are calling Gabriola Island's outbreak of whooping cough the worst in years, with ten new cases reported in just over a week.

There were three cases of whooping cough on Gabriola Island at the end of December, but by Jan. 8 that number rose to 14 - the largest outbreak on Vancouver Island so far.

According to Dr. Paul Has-selback, central island medical officer for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, other communities haven't seen whooping cough since November and never in as large of clusters as Gabri-ola. Is is "concerning," he said, and prompting health officials to renew calls for parents to update their children's vaccinations.

The last time the island had confirmed cases of whooping cough was in 2008. There has been no hospitalizations.

"We are quite concerned about what's going on," Hasselback said. "But it is not a surprise .

. . and it's still not at the same magnitude as what we are seeing across the strait, where we are talking about hundreds of cases.

VIHA has seen whooping cough rise sharply in North America over the past 12 months. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention counted more than 36,000 cases of the infection as of November 2012. The number is twice the level of 2011.

The infection hasn't been seen in "years" but once present it starts to spread to those that haven't been vaccinated, or who have built an immunity to the vaccine, Hasselback said.

Whooping cough can be lethal to infants under 12 months old; affecting their ability to breathe. Gabriola Elementary School had sent notices to parents and taken extra cleaning measures at the school similar to what they did during the H1N1 outbreak.