Meet 10-week-old Stavroulla

Stavroulla was one of the many babies admitted to the Women's and Children's Hospital during the recent whooping cough (pertussis) epidemic. She experienced violent coughing fits, breathlessness and vomiting and was hospitalised after become cyanosed (blue in face) due to lack of oxygen. Over an eight-day period staff at the Hospital provided Stavroulla with supplemental oxygen and endeavoured to remove the thick secretions blocking her tiny airways.

Pertussis is a significant cause of mortality in infancy worldwide, with nearly 300,000 deaths occurring each year. It is highly contagious and assumes its most severe form in young babies.

Researchers at the Children's Research Centre and the Vaccinology and Immunology Research Trials Unit are working to prevent babies like Stavroulla from enduring this life-threatening condition. They are leading the South Australian component of a nation-wide study in which babies are given the pertussis vaccine within five days of birth, instead of the conventional age of six weeks. It is hoped that this will lead to an earlier vaccine schedule that closes the window of risk for newborns.

If successful, the pertussis vaccine may soon be able to be administered as soon as a child enters the world, better protecting babies from hospitalisation or death from this terrible illness.

To help us further this important research and ensure babies like Stavroulla get the healthiest start to life, please consider making a donation here.