Health officials have declared a whooping cough pandemic, with babies at the highest danger of contracting the potentially fatal condition.

Following a meeting of health officials on Thursday, Health New Zealand announced the implementation of a national coordinated response.

There have been 263 cases of whooping cough (Pertussis) in the last four weeks, the most in a single month in 2024, with preceding surges in May, June, and July.

Dr. Nicholas Jones, Director of Public Health, stated that several countries were reporting record levels of pertussis, probably because of reduced infection rates during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He predicted that Māori and Pacific pēpi would be the most impacted, similar to earlier outbreaks.

"Our primary concern with this pandemic is the danger of serious sickness in babies who are too young to be immunized or whose immunizations are delayed. Our primary goal is to protect pēpi by timely vaccination and immunization during pregnancy.

"Even in countries with very high levels of immunization, epidemics still occur every few years, but the numbers of babies who get very sick are much lower when mothers have been vaccinated during pregnancy, and when pēpi are vaccinated on time," Jones explained.

Dr Susan Jack, Te Whatu Ora's national clinical director for protection, stated that the National Public Health Service was well prepared to manage the pandemic, with a national response team in place to coordinate and support action across all public health agencies.

"Our last major outbreak of pertussis 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."

Whooping cough is especially harmful to newborns and the elderly, and it can be fatal in some situations, she said.

"Sadly, three babies died from whooping cough last year, and we want to avoid that happening again."

Around 50% of pēpi who develop whooping cough before the age of 12 months require hospitalization, with one or two in every 100 dying from the infection.

"The best protection for infants is for their mother to be immunized while pregnant. Prenatal pertussis immunization is both safe and free. This is most effective when started at 16 weeks of pregnancy - and should be done every pregnancy to ensure the optimum protection for each kid," Dr Jack explained.

• To guard against whooping cough, children must be vaccinated at six weeks, three months, and five months, as well as again at four years old.
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• A booster is given at the age of 11 (school year 7).
• Pregnant women are not required to have any vaccines.

Adults are entitled to one free booster beginning at age 45 (if they have not received four previous tetanus doses) and continuing until age 65.

Whooping cough causes breathing problems and violent coughing bouts. The cough can last for weeks or months, which is why it is also known as the "100-day cough".

People are most infectious in the early stages, with the first indications of whooping cough typically emerging around one week after infection.

Symptoms may include nasal congestion, sneezing, slight fever, and coughing.