Whooping Cough (Pertussis): Important information you should know

In the first six months of life babies are vulnerable to infection with Whooping Cough as their immune system is not fully developed. Whooping cough can be life threatening to a new born baby and vaccination is the best way to prevent this infection.

Vaccination against whooping cough is important for all the community to protect against passing this potentially serious infection onto a new born baby. The whooping Cough vaccination is available from your General Practitioner. Pregnancy is a good time to remind all family members to check if their Whooping Cough vaccination is up to date. A Whooping Cough booster is usually given every 5 years and is often given with a tetanus booster.

Women planning a pregnancy should check to see if they need a Whooping Cough booster and a a single booster dose of the adult formulation Pertussis vaccine (dTpa) is recommended.
Alternatively,  dTpa one can be given to women in the last trimester of pregnancy or in the first few weeks after the baby is born by the GP. The whooping cough booster is also recommended for grandparents and carers of young children.

If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to ask or contact your GP for more information and to arrange your vaccination..
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Flu Vaccine: Did You know it is both safe and recommended in pregnancy?

Pregnant women and babies are at risk from the severe consequences of influenza infection.

The flu vaccine offers protection to you and your new born baby for the first six months of life. Annual vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu and pregnancy provides a good opportunity to remind other close family members to have their vaccination.

The flu vaccine is free and available for all pregnant women from your GP. If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to ask or contact your GP for more information and to arrange your vaccination.

Annual vaccination is the single most effective measure to prevent influenza. In healthy people aged under 65 years, the influenza vaccine is 70% to 90% effective in preventing the flu. Annual vaccination reduces your chances of catching the flu, and it may also reduce the severity of the flu if you do catch it. Every year, the influenza vaccine is changed as required to ensure it protects against the most recent virus strains.
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New blood test for genetic prenatal diagnosis.

Non Invasive Prenatal Testing or NIPT

In 2013, a new maternal blood test became available in Australia which offers a screening test for the following genetic abnormalities in selected patients:

Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome)
Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome)
Trisomy 13 (Pataus Syndrome) and  
Monosomy X ( Turners Syndrome)

This screening blood test can be taken at 10 weeks from the mother and is sent to the USA for analysis. The result usually takes 10- 14 days. The test can be offered to any woman over 35 at delivery, any woman with ultrasound abnormalities detected on the Nuchal scan, a history of a prior pregnancy affected by Trisomy, if either parent carries an increased risk of having a child with any of  the above genetic abnormalities or on request.

This blood test does not replace the Nuchal or Morphology scan and should be regarded as complementary to these scans, if required, to exclude the above genetic abnormalities where indicated.

Currently there is no Medicare rebate for NIPT screening, and it is conducted in association with genetic counselling usually before or at the time of the Nuchal scan, based on a risk assessment.

At least 99% of Down syndrome foetuses can be detected with a false positive rate of less than 1%. There are no risks associated with having the blood test and if the result is abnormal, an amniocentesis or CVS is recommended to verify the result.

This blood test will be discussed with you at your first visit and if you need further information please don’t hesitate to ask.

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