Health New Zealand has confirmed that we are in the early stages of a whooping cough epidemic and a nationally coordinated response is now in place.
In the past four weeks there have been 263 cases, the highest number over this period this year.
Director of Public Health Nick Jones said the main worry was babies and those who have not had their immunisations yet.
“Our main concern with this epidemic is the risk of severe illness among babies either too young to be immunised or whose immunisations are delayed. Our key objective is to protect pēpi through on time vaccination and immunisation during pregnancy”.
Dr Susan Jack, National Clinical Director, Protection, at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, says the National Public Health Service is well prepared to manage the epidemic, with a national response team standing up to coordinate and support activity across public health services.
“Our last major outbreak of whooping cough was in 2017, but they can last for months and potentially for a year or more, so this will be a marathon, not a sprint.”
