Whooping Cough

Hi everyone, just after some advice, a work mate has developed whooping cough. I'm 31 weeks pregnant, been to my GP and had a swab taken. I'm second guessing whether I should have had a booster immunisation shot or taken the antibiotics straight away (have had no symptoms).

Be keen to hear anyone's thoughts on what they would do or if they have ever been in this situation.

Cheers

I wouldn't have the booster shot. It is highly ineffective anyway and is unlikely to affect the outcome.
I would wait and see about the a/b. You may test positive for it but have no symptoms and if you get symptoms you could then decide whether to take the a/b or not. Whooping cough is contagious before the coughing and usually starts with cold symptoms. If the test comes back negative, I would still assume you have the potential to have it. There is a 21 day incubation period, so you could assume that you may have it in that time if you are going to have it. If you get cold symptoms any time in the next 25 days (from exposure) then treat it as though its whooping cough and decide then whether to have ab or not. Well, thats what I would do anyway.
Ab is not something you want unnecessarily, just because it wipes out all bugs not just the bad ones and you are open to other illnesses as your immune system is already working in overdrive due to being pregnant.
All the best!

I wouldn't do anything just yet (other than steer clear of babies just in case). A booster shot at this point probably wouldn't stop you from developing whooping cough now if you have already been infected and antibiotics would only be worth it if you confirm that you actually have it.

If it has been a long time since you were last vaccinated for whooping cough I would get the booster shot at a time that the Doctor advises is safe (I think you can have it when pregnant but don't really know) as immunisation is incredibly effective in preventing the spread of contagious and life threatening illnesses to babies (stating the bleeding obvious).

Just make sure you don't develop a cough of any sort. And when baby is born make sure no one has a cough. First thing after baby is born is you all get the shot.

Yea i'm just going to wait for the results to come back, fingers crossed I don't develop any symptoms in the mean time. I'd rather avoid putting anything in to my body while pregnant if I can. I probably haven't had a booster shot since I was young! The lady who has whooping cough has been sick since about 20th May and just had it confirmed yesterday.

Hi, I am 37 weeks and just had the whooping cough booster (along with my partner and parents, who will be spending time with baby once it arrives). After seeing a clip on the news about it, I did research online (MoH, etc) and asked the doctor and my midwife, who all recommended getting the booster as there are two known outbreaks in NZ at the moment, in Akld and ChCh. I have had no adverse reaction other than a sore arm. I felt it was more important to create an environment of protection before birth, rather than wait - obviously a personal decision. Hope your tests came back OK.

My Ds got whooping cough a couple months back they think vacination isnt working. I had whooping cough 4 yr ago and got it again when my Ds had it, i had the booster when he was born. All i suggest is hold off on ab till u get signs as u dont want to put it in your body if u dont need to.