When I had my children, the grandparents couldn’t wait to visit the hospital to see the new babies. Despite living hours away, each time my husband and I had a baby, both sets of our parents dropped everything to visit.
Looking back, the only thing my husband and I considered at the time was how tired we were. We looked forward to showing off our new babies, but tried to plan the visits around our (almost non-existent) sleeping times.
I know now that we should have been thinking of something much more important. One critical thing to make sure to keep your baby safe is to make sure that everyone is up to date on their whooping cough vaccine. Because as it turns out, most infants who are infected with whooping cough actually catch it from those around them, including grandparents. And that’s serious, since about half of babies with whooping cough have to be hospitalized and tragically, some don’t survive.
What is Whooping Cough?
Pertussis, also known as Whooping Cough, is a highly communicable disease that infects the lungs. It results in uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it very difficult to breathe. People with pertussis often have to take deep breaths which result in a “whooping” sound.
What are the early symptoms of whooping cough?
The early symptoms are similar to those of a cold or respiratory tract infection, including sneezing, runny nose, low-grade fever and nonspecific cough. The risk to babies is especially scary because grandparents may not have any idea if they have the disease and could be spreading the disease through respiratory droplets in coughs and sneezes.
How can you protect your baby?
Because whooping cough is highly communicable, experts recommend that women who are pregnant should get the vaccine in their 3rdt rimester to pass protection to the baby, and that everyone around the baby should have their whooping cough vaccination up-to-date.
Is it difficult to get vaccinated?
It’s easy to get vaccinated and make sure relatives and friends are up-to-date on their whooping cough vaccinations. Just head to Walgreens, where whooping cough vaccines are available whenever the pharmacy is open. There is no appointment necessary – just walk in and request the vaccination.**
Get a Shot. Give a Shot®..
Walgreens has partnered with the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign. When you get a whooping cough (or other immunization besides the flu shot) vaccination at Walgreens, Walgreens will donate a life-saving vaccine to a child in need through its “Get a Shot. Give a Shot.”* program.
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With so many visitors around brand new babies in their first few months of life, it’s important to keep them safe from whooping cough. Ask your visiting friends and relatives to head to their local Walgreens to get up-to-date on their Pertussis vaccination.
Learn more:
Walgreens Get a Shot. Give a Shot® Campaign
More information available at walgreens.com/getashot or shotatlife.org/
*Donation currently valid for non-flu vaccinations. Aggregate donation of up to $1 million.
**Vaccines subject to availability. State-, age- and health-related restrictions may apply.
