I’m lying on a mattress on the floor, next to a fire engine bed. Above me are five glow-in-the-dark stars arranged in the shape of the Southern Cross. I’m having flashbacks to childhood sleepovers – late nights spent talking and giggling in the dark. But this is no laughing matter. I’m sleeping on the floor because the Little Sister has whooping cough.
At the other end of the corridor, Bearhands is sleeping in the Big Sister’s room. She has it too.
The diagnosis finally came on Tuesday evening. The Doctor who ordered the test on the Little Sister did it as a precaution. The two Doctors who’ve seen the Big Sister up until now had dismissed the idea that two fully immunised, otherwise healthy children would catch whooping cough.
After we received the news, I set about ringing the alarm bells. School and daycare needed to be notified, friends and family contacted. I received a call from a very friendly lady named Debbie at Public Health who asked me who we’ve been in contact with and filled me in on what is known about whooping cough in immunised children.
The Little Sister has started a strict course of serious antibiotics that will make her no longer infectious. The Big Sister is past the infectious period. Immunised children cough less during the day, experiencing their frightening whooping in the colder air of night time. Debbie said this means they’re less effective at spreading the disease in public, but still very effective at sharing it with their families. The thought is, the Big Sister picked it up somewhere and has passed it onto the Little Sister. I’m hopeful this is the extent of the spread.
Antibiotics won’t help the Sister’s coughs; they’re caused by a toxin secreted by the Pertussis bacteria, it will just stop her being infectious. The Doctor referred to their wracking cough as the hundred day cough. Bearhands and I will be having these sleepovers for a while, night time is frightening.
I sleep on the mattress on the floor, rising during the night to rub the Little Sister’s heaving back, offer sips of water and soothing words and catch the occasional spew. I wake with a start when she hasn’t coughed in a while, fearing I’ve missed something dire. Afterwards, I lie in the dark asking the big questions:
how on earth did my two fully immunised children catch whooping cough?
did I unwittingly subject another family to this same nightmare by allowing the Big Sister to go to school a few days last week?
have I forgotten something? have the kids have been in contact with a woman in her last month of pregnancy or a baby under six months old?
why would anyone knowingly risk their children catching whooping cough (and getting a dose worse than this) ?
Our home, the Sunshine Coast has the dubious honour of having the worst immunisation rate in Queensland and the third lowest immunisation rate in the country. Only 87% percent of 5 year olds on the Coast are fully vaccinated against measles, meningococcal and whooping cough. It’s likely that this lack of herd immunity is the reason that the Big Sister picked up this frightening illness and brought it home.
We’re under house arrest for five days. Painting, drawing and watching ABC for kids, all punctuated by occasional coughing spasms.
what’s keeping you up nights?
Immunisation is an emotive topic, I’ll be moderating comments carefully.
If you cross the line, your comment will be deleted and you’ll win a one-way ticket to spankytown. Mrs Woog says there’s plenty of room.
oh how incredibly frightening!! poor sisters… poor parents… i’m an ‘immunizer’ all the way, but i have always worried about this happening to us anyway. take care, wish i could help. xoxo
Yes…..been there done that! Mr son caught it from school at 11 years of age despite being fully immunised and then shared it with his mum and dad. My husband was so sick with it and one night I thought he was going to pass out from coughing. Hope The Sisters recover quickly xxx
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had it too.
Oh Amanda I am so sorry to hear this. How horrendous for all of you. As awful as this is, it is so important to remind yourself that you have done everything you could to protect your daughters – immunisation is so important.
The resilience of children is never to be underestimated, nor is the love a parent trying to protect them.
I am sending lots of love & get well wishes for your beautiful girls. xx
Thanks Jodi. Appreciate the wishes. x
Oh no that is not great news lovely. The poor girls, must be horrible for them, and you and Bearhands. I’m a firm believer in immunising kids and yes it might not stop them from getting it but it will make their symptoms less. Hugs and strength xx
Very grateful for less severe symptoms Em. If this is a good case, I wouldn’t like to be faced with a bad one.
Poor girls and poor parents, it sounds horrible, especially that the worst of it is at night, everything that happens in the dark of night feels worse. I have a friend who is a non-immuniser but I find it hard not to get really mad with her, especially when I hear stories like this. It’s a world of free choice and all but when the free choice impacts on other families it crosses the line for me. Hope I have put that nicely enough not to get sent to spankytown 😉 Lots of love to all of you. xxx
Very diplomatically put Amanda. No spanktown for you! xx
You poor things! It’s horrible – I had it when I was pregnant with Max, luckily Jack didn’t get it!
If there’s one thing that could make whooping cough worse, I reckon it’d be being pregnant and having whooping cough. Belated sympathies, Bonnie! xx
Hopefully the girls have a quick recovery, you must all be very exhausted X
That’s awful news. Your poor girls. Poor you. Wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery 😉
Thanks Mumabs. x
Mate, that is just the worst. Sending all the healthy vibes I can muster in the direction of your poor little poppets. I support vaccination because of crazy concepts like science and evidence xx
Science? Evidence? Wash your mouth out Rachel! xx
I couldn’t imagine how scary it is for you and your husband (and of course your girls). I am very much PRO-immunisation for the simple fact it could prevent my children getting seriously sick or causing someone elses child illness (then there are the pregnant women, elderly, etc).
I hope your girls have a quick recovery. xx
Thanks Kell. x
Oh gosh, feeling for you! I went through the same thing with my son earlier in the year. It was awful being up all night with the coughing, but even worse was the fact we had to formally notify so many people. Felt like I’d been irresponsibly spreading the plague! We got the GP to give us a letter to carry (to daycare, to my gym etc) once we knew it wasn’t infectious any more because the cough lingered for weeks and weeks. And yes, same, fully immunised 🙁
oh my – the poor things! Hope they are starting to feel better soon. Scary indeed!
Feeling for you. 34 years ago my daughter caught whooping cough at 4 weeks of age, too young for immunisation. To have a baby choking, fighting to catch a breath is scary. She was in intensive care for 4 weeks with a sister watching her all the time in case she just decided that she had had enough and just didn’t take another breath. This movement for non-immunisation needs to stop. They think they are the ones informed but they are the ones willing infecting society. Hopefully your girls will come home soon, your bed will look so welcoming!
I cannot imagine how frightening that would have been for your Sharryn. It’s frightening enough in my almost three and six year olds. I’m pleased your daughter survived. I’m painfully aware that many infants with whooping cough don’t. xx
Oh god you poor things!! I’ll avoid being sent straight to spankytown by keeping it simple. Immunise your children!! There is no excuse!! Sending lots of hugs and healing vibes your way xx
I’m so sorry you have two unwell little girls, it sounds super scary. I hope the coughs ease off soon and you are able to get some rest during the day. This is such a warning to those who don’t immunise because they are relying on herd immunity.
How unfortunate! So sorry to hear that! Hope things improve quickly. Sad about the lack of immunisations up your way. These illnesses are always there just waiting for a chance to spread. Hope it passes quickly.
Oh I hope they get better soon! I have an acute asthmatic and the nights are bad enough with her. Glad you have a great helper in Bearhands.
Ps Immunisation isn’t just about your kids. It’s about the community!
Oh hon, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ve seen friends go through it with a newborn and it was the most distressing experience. My big confession…. Raffles is only partially immunised. Why? Because he has a rare allergy to the MMR serum that saw him gravely ill in hospital at age one and there isn’t a Dr in Sydney prepared to risk giving him his booster. Now before you send me to Spankytown you have to ask… do I still believe in immunisation? Hell! Yes! Sugarpuff is fully immunised and Raffles has had every other immunisation outside of his booster MMR jabs. We have no choice but to rely on everyone doing their part and immunising their kids because with Raffles we can’t. Immunise your children people! Even after our experience we did it for our daughter because it’s the only way to eradicate these illnesses. Big hugs to you and your babies xx
Oh your poor little angels hope they recover from this terrible ordeal soon. I never thought you could get whooping cough if you’ve been immunised. Hang in there. Sending you all lots of hugs.
Big exasperated sighs here. I’m livid on your behalf. This is the peril of the anti-vax crowd….rapidly demolishing herd immunity and allowing all the different strains to emerge. And putting our children at risk. Pockets of Australia rival the third world when it comes to reemerging preventable childhood diseases.
I had whooping cough 8 years ago or so (was living in Byron Bay at the time which rivals the sunny coast for immunisation rates), and my health has not been the same since. I coughed for a year, and I now am hyper sensitive to moulds, rain, cold air, being remotely run down….
I am so sorry to hear this. I hope the little ones recover soon, and that you all get through ok.
My best recommendation is that you focus on immunity boosters as much as possible because it can be long running and despite what the docs say, if they keep coughing ( I coughed a year!!) it can have long term affects (as it has me) in that you can end up with severely depressed immune system and hyper sensitivity to any kind of throat/chest irritant or bug that comes your way.
p.s I hate to say this, but when it comes to unvaccinated babies and kids…the parents are making a deliberate choice, and your children coming in contact with them whilst contagious has NOTHING to do with you. Parents with babies under 12 weeks can chose to cover them up in public or not take them out in public at all…….don’t keep yourself up at night worrying about that. There is nothing you can do about it.
x
I am so sorry to hear. It makes me so mad 🙁
Thanks Stacey. It makes me mad too, but I’m feeling a bit calmer about it since the girls haven’t worsened over the past few days. 🙂
Hi. Reading this is a flashback to us two years ago. I’d love to make contact with you. You can reach me on alison_gaylard@hotmail.com
This is me: http://m.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/mullumbimby-mum-fights-to-boost-immunisation-rates-in-byron-shire/story-fni0cx12-1226660584700
Oh you poor poor things:-( I can’t even say ‘I hope they get better soon’ because I know they won’t – it will take a long time, as you say. I just hope that it doesn’t get any worse and you all get through it without complications.
Oh, your poor girls! I hope they get better really quickly. I can’t imagine how horrible it must be to have to sit there with them while they cough and not be able to help them much. Hoping you all get some much needed sleep soon xx
Oh how horrible for you guys and the poor girls. Its frightening that immunised kids can still catch it. I thought I was past the scary stage of whooping cough once we got past the six month needles. Its certainly opened my eyes to be more vigilant.