'It's scary': Whooping cough outbreak sparks concerns, immunizations

P.E.I. public health officials say they've experienced a "significant increase" in calls from Islanders looking to get immunized against whooping cough.  That comes just a day after officials revealed the province is experiencing an outbreak of the contagious disease, with 10 confirmed cases. 

Christine Dunphy says as the mother of three kids, including a five-month-old, she's particularly concerned about the outbreak.  For young babies, whooping cough can be life threatening.  They're also not fully immunized until they receive their fourth dose of the vaccine when they're 18 months old. 

"It's scary what can happen," Dunphy said. "Until my youngest is fully immunized, we will be more cautious for sure...We'll just try to keep out of more crowded places until this blows over, I guess."

Several child care centres told CBC Wednesday that parents are starting to come to them with questions about the outbreak, and how to protect their kids. 

We'll just try to keep out of more crowded places until this blows over.- Christine Dunphy, mother of 5-month-old 

Anne Robertson, the executive director of Chances Family Centre, says while there have been no confirmed cases at any of the Chances facilities, families are still concerned. 

"They're obviously very young children spending their day in close contact," said Robertson.  "Parents have asked questions about, you know, what they should look for, what would be the signs and symptoms."

Policies vary on immunizations

Robertson says her staff are taking their usual precautions to protect children from spreading illnesses, including regularly washing their hands and ensuring those who are sick stay at home. 

Some other child care centres told CBC that in addition to those steps, they demand immunization records from parents, and insist children are properly vaccinated before they can attend their centres. 

But Roberton says Chances leaves that decision up to parents.  

"Teams are close, they're together a lot. They're on the bus and in the hotel rooms- Greg Gould, UPEI Women's Basketball coach 

"We do have parents who choose not to immunize their children," she said.  "We also have newcomer refugee families who have no record of whether they're immunized."

UPEI basketball coach hoping to keep whooping cough off the bench

UPEI's women's basketball coach Greg Gould says ensuring his players are immunized can be tricky as well, especially given some players come from other countries where vaccination availability may be more limited. 

Gould says the whooping cough outbreak is hard to ignore, as his team heads into the AUS championship this weekend. 

"Teams are close, they're together a lot. They're on the bus and in the hotel rooms," said Gould. "If there was a diagnosis of whooping cough, yeah we'd probably try to keep that player away.  But often times by then, the damage has already been done."

Public health officials maintain the best odds of keeping Islanders healthy is the whooping cough vaccine, including the booster dose available to adults. 

It's offered free from Health PEI public health nursing offices.