00:00Unlike flu, whooping cough isn't as much of a seasonal illness, we do tend to see outbreaks
00:09every four or five years. So that part was expected, but this one, as you said, has been
00:15longer lasting and much bigger than we've seen since the early 90s. And so we really
00:20do need to try and get on top of this whooping cough or pertussis outbreak and vaccination
00:24remains our best way to do so. Okay, who's most vulnerable? So whooping cough can affect anyone
00:31and it gives you a long lasting and irritating cough, but it's most risky for the youngest in
00:37our community, for little babies where it really can be a life threatening illness. Our best
00:43protection against that is vaccinating pregnant women, because actually by doing that, we give
00:47them give the unborn baby some antibodies that protect them until they can get their own vaccines.
00:52So pregnant women, but also grandparents, parents, carers who are wrapping around that baby and
00:59seeing them early in their life should be up to date with their vaccines, which means a
01:03booster sometime in the past 10 years. As you say, it is highly infectious, but some of the
01:08symptoms people might mistake for a cold or flu. So what's the particular symptoms that
01:13we should look out for? Really, it often presents as what we call it the 90 day cough. It's a cough
01:20that just goes on and on and on. And so if you've had symptoms that just aren't budging,
01:27head in and see your GP. And likewise, often if there's a case at a school or a daycare centre,
01:32there'll be alerts out to families. So obviously, if you've had one of those and your kids are sick,
01:37pop on in and see us at the GP and we'll make sure that you're aware of what's happening and that
01:42we can protect the community as well as your family.
01:44What are vaccination rates like at the moment?
01:48Sadly, across a lot of our vaccination rates, we're slipping and that's both in our childhood
01:54and our adult immunisation rates. And that's not something we should be proud of. We're below
01:59the 95% that we need with whooping cough to get that herd immunity. And so really important that we
02:06get our kids along for all their routine immunisations. And then a target like this one where we need to
02:12for pregnant women and carers of young children.
02:15Why do you think it's happening? Why do you think people are forgetting or showing reluctance?
02:20I think it's a combination of things. There is, of course, a bunch of misinformation and floating
02:26around on social media that's getting people unnecessarily concerned. But also people were a bit sick
02:32and tired of vaccines through the pandemic, but we're well and truly clear of that level of vaccination
02:37now. And I think people struggle to take the time off of work or school. But we do need a whole
02:43community effort for vaccinations. And so really important to make that time, go in and have a
02:48conversation with your GP if you've got questions. And we need to protect the health of all Australians.
02:54You do it on a national scale. Come on programmes like ours and talk about it to raise awareness
03:00of it. But out in the community and in doctors' surgeries, what is happening there to try and
03:07encourage people to give them the right information? Is there a national push?
03:13Yeah, so I do the bit of both. So here today talking to all of Australia, but also one by one
03:18talk to my patients as a GP, as do all of my colleagues around the country. And it is a time where we're
03:23having to answer more questions. People have wonder about kind of how immunisation works and really want
03:30to understand it before deciding whether to participate. And that's a really important
03:34part of our job. And at the AMA, along with the Commonwealth and state and territory governments,
03:39we're also working on what are the other programmes and campaigns that could be run to help make sure
03:47Australians have all the information they need. And so that GPs have the tools we need as well to help
03:52make those conversations easier.
Comments