All babies in New Zealand can be immunised for free against whooping cough as part of their childhood immunisations, with booster doses given to children at four and 11 years of age. Photo: 123rf
A third baby has died from whooping cough this year, with a warning there may be an undetected spread in the community.
The announcement from Te Whatu Ora today comes after two deaths were made public last month.
Te Whatu Ora clinical head of public health William Rainger said the ratio of fatalities was higher than previous years.
That suggested the disease could be transmitting undetected, even though the number of reported cases was still low at 11.
The disease, also known as pertussis, can give people a bad cough that can make it difficult to breathe and often finishes with a whooping sound, dry-retching or a vomit.
It is particularly dangerous for babies and young children.
Rainger urged people to get their babies vaccinated as soon as they were able to. Vaccinations start at age six weeks, and boosters were required a few weeks later.
Pregnant women and those who would be around a new-born baby should also be immunised to prevent them spreading the disease, he said.
The disease often started with cold symptoms, like a runny nose and a mild cough, so he urged anyone with those symptoms to stay away from new-born or unimmunised babies as much as possible.
New Zealand currently has record low rates of immunisation for children under four, with Māori children most impacted.
Experts believe that could be contributing to the spread of whooping cough, with some already calling the current outbreak a pandemic.
"The uptake of Pertussis vaccination decreased during the Covid period. So at the moment, children at the age of 12 months, the rate is across New Zealand 63 percent," Rainger told Checkpoint.
"But for Pacific children it is 59 percent, and for Māori children, it is 62 percent.
"So that across the board is far too low. We're really aiming for 95 percent."
The numbers were not currently at the level indicating an outbreak of whooping cough, Rainger said.
He said the fear was that there could be pockets where it was circulating undetected.
Anyone who had a cough for longer than two weeks should get it checked out, he said.