No visiting my baby unless you've been vaccinated, Alberta mom declares amid whooping cough outbreak

One new Lethbridge mother is taking extra precautions to protect her child, who was born in the middle of a whooping cough outbreak in southern Alberta.

Annalea Burles speaks in hushed tones, barely louder than a whisper, as her son, Camden, is finally sleeping after bouts of colic have kept them both up through much of the past week.

The new mom is dealing with the colic, diaper rash and a host of other first-time-mom obstacles.

With all of that on her mind, she has little patience for the risk to her son from this latest outbreak.

So she's decided to tell everyone she knows — including close friends and family — that if they haven't been immunized against whooping cough, they can't see the new baby.

The current outbreak of whooping cough — also known as pertussis — was declared in June and has spread across the southern part of the province. It has now been linked to 257 confirmed cases of the bacterial infection, which poses the greatest threat to infants.

Southern Alberta is known for its low immunization rates, which health officials have noted has led to whooping cough becoming endemic to the province's south zone, meaning outbreaks are inevitable.

Outbreak numbers for this particular infection are generally deceptively low due to underreporting, since many people won't report a cough to public health officials.

In 2012, a one-month-old baby girl died from pertussis before she had a chance to get her first vaccination, which happens at two months of age.

'You're the only chance they've got'

Burles said she knows she's not the only new mom taking these kinds of extreme measures. In fact, she was inspired to take her stand by a friend who works for the health authority.

"It seems like it's everywhere right now, and just his exposure to it, that could just be the end of his life right there, because it's so hard for babies to fight it," she said.

Few families understand the fragility of life the way this family does. Burles nearly died in a car accident just before she was due to marry Camden's father, Patrick Burles, in 2011.

Knowing how quickly life can be snatched away, the couple won't be taking any chances when it comes to the health of their son.

"It's scary to have to put your foot down, that you're afraid you're going to offend people, or you're going to make people mad that they can't come see your baby," she said.

"But you have to put them first, you have to be brave for them, because you're the only chance they've got."

'I understand why parents are taking that approach'

Lena Derie-Gillespie, medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services' south zone, said the pertussis outbreak began in a few localized areas where there are low levels of immunization but has since spread across the southern part of the province.

"We now have the outbreak declared across the entire zone," she said. "So we are seeing cases pretty much throughout the zone, in many communities."

Given the extent of the outbreak, she said it's reasonable for parents to limit the exposure of their babies to people who could be infected.

"If an infant under one was to get pertussis, they're at — by far — the highest risk of having very negative outcomes, and those can include even death," she said.

"So I respect and I understand why parents are taking that approach."

Working parents

While Burles is able to stay home with her son for now, other parents need to put their children in the care of others.

So it falls to the local daycares to be up-to-date on what health risks are present in the area.

"If it's whooping cough, or another communicable disease, we have to know: 'What are the symptoms?'" said Jill Leclaire, director of Caspian Childcare.

Leclaire said she and her staff research everything themselves and then are vigilant in watching for any signs of a child acting abnormally.

From there, communication is key with the parents to know what might have caused the abnormalities, she says. If the child is deemed to be ill, they have prescribed periods of time they require parents to keep their kids home.

Additionally, Leclaire said staff at the daycare centre are required to have up-to-date immunizations, and parents who choose not to immunize their kids must sign additional waivers acknowledging the risk.

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