WHOOPING COUGH ALERT

Information from Queensland tells of schoolchildren on Magnetic Island coming down with whooping cough . There has been an upsurge in whooping cough in Australia of late. In Queensland during the period January 1 to August 13 , 3404 cases of the infectious respiratory disease were reported, 902 in the same span last year. It to be hoped that this distressing condition does not take hold in Territory children, especially in distant Aboriginal communities. In June 2008 the NT Health Department urged vaccination of children after many cases in Darwin . There were 477 cases of whooping cough in the NT in 2008 , up from 27 the previous year.