Experts from the Austrian Medical Association emphasize that there needs to be much more information about vaccinations as an important preventative measure.
Vienna (OTS) – “My condolences go out to the family of the baby who was only a few weeks old and died of whooping cough in Graz,” said Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, deputy chairwoman of the Federal Curia of Resident Doctors at the Austrian Medical Association and herself a mother, deeply affected by the sad news. Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease and must be reported in Austria. Infants and small children as well as older people are particularly affected by severe cases. According to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), most deaths occur in the first year of life.
Vaccinations during pregnancy
Infants can only be vaccinated from the second month of life onwards, with further partial vaccinations in the fifth and eleventh month, explains Rudolf Schmitzberger, head of the vaccination department at the Austrian Medical Association: “Pregnant women are recommended to have a booster in the third trimester of pregnancy in order to protect infants as well as possible from birth to protect,” he says. Awareness of this important vaccination is essential here: “Keeping an eye on the vaccination status is extremely important – especially during pregnancy,” emphasizes Schmitzberger.
It is important that the pertussis vaccination should be boosted after the basic immunization at the age of five to six years as part of the quadruple vaccination with diphtheria, tetanus and polio. The following applies to adults: booster vaccinations up to the age of 60 every ten years, then every five years: “It would be important that this very important vaccination is also included in the free vaccination program in order to offer low-threshold access,” emphasizes Schmitzberger. Because the adult vaccination is a private vaccination.
Routine look at vaccination certificate
Kamaleyan-Schmied describes: “What is striking to me as a family doctor is that many pregnant women are still irritated when a vaccination is recommended to them during pregnancy. This case in particular shows how important this protection through the mother’s vaccination would have been for the newborn. For the future, we need more awareness of the topic and low-threshold access through free vaccinations.”
“As family doctors, we have a lot of contact with patients, not only through the internal examination of pregnant women as part of the mother-child pass, which can also be carried out by general practitioners,” says Kamaleyan-Schmied: “Pregnant women can Please contact your medical examiner about this.” She reiterates that the pertussis vaccination should also be free for adults, because immunocompromised people and high-risk patients can also be at risk of death if infected.
Questions & Contact:
Austrian Medical Association
Mag. Sophie Niedenzu, MSc
public relation
01/51406/3316
s.niedenzu@aerztekammer.at
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