Free Whooping Cough Vaccine Scrapped for Mothers in New South Wales

As of Monday July 15, NSW Health will no longer provide free whooping cough vaccine to GPs for vaccination of mothers after they have given birth.
NSW Health Director of Communicable Diseases, Dr Vicky Sheppeard, says expert advice shows that to be most effective the vaccine needs to be given before the baby is born. “In light of this information, we recommend women ensure they talk with their GP about vaccination prior to conceiving or else have the vaccine during their third trimester,” Dr Sheppeard said.
Children of mothers who receive the vaccine in the third trimester will require an additional booster dose at 18 months of age, as maternal antibodies may interfere with an infant’s immune response. They will, however, have to purchase the vaccine on prescription from their obstetrician or GP.
The outgoing strategy of free vaccines for mothers who have just given birth was developed in response to a whooping cough epidemic that began in 2008. Almost 2,000 cases (1,999) were notified in NSW at the epidemic’s peak in December 2008, and numbers of notifications were high through 2009 and again in 2011. To help control these outbreaks, NSW Health provided free whooping cough vaccine for adults in close contact with infants. Last July NSW Health refocused its adult whooping cough vaccine strategy to new mothers in maternity units.
NSW Health will provide fact sheets about the changes to GP’s, Local Health Districts and Obstetricians.