Another week on-call done and another week with so much whooping cough. Lots of outbreaks, often centred around small babies admitted to hospital. Some people might say that measles is just a mild disease (though they’d be wrong), but absolutely nobody can tell you that whooping cough is mild in small babies. While we try to get population vaccination levels up, if you have a small baby, please make sure everyone in your family group is vaccinated against pertussis. The vast majority of these babies catch it from a parent or grandparent. And try to stay away from small babies if you have a head cold, as whooping cough in adults can resemble a mild viral infection, but can still be passed on as full-on whooping cough.

We are now seeing lots of whooping cough in Ireland too. Small babies can and do die from it. The vaccine is safe and effective. It’s important to keep small babies safe. That should be all we need to say.

…If you’re concerned about measles, please call ahead to the surgery/clinic if possible and let them know. They may not want you to come straight into the waiting area.

With all the current concern around measles, lots of people are showing up to GP surgeries with fever and a rash. That’s very understandable, as we’re not used to measles. But it’s such a contagious illness that it can easily affect vulnerable people in a waiting room…..

If you go to 1:10 here you will see a STAGGERING statistic…..20% of our college-aged population don’t have any immunity to measles. That is an absolute ticking time-bomb! Make sure your teenagers have their measles vaccines before they go to crowded halls and lecture theatres 🙏