A whooping cough epidemic has been declared across the country, with health authorities urging pregnant mothers to get immunised as soon as possible. 

The announcement comes after latest reporting showed spikes of whooping cough cases in May, June, July and another steady increase since September. 

A total of 263 cases have been reported in the last four weeks (between October 19 to November 15) - the highest number of cases over a four-week period, to date, this year. 

Director of Public Health, Dr Nicholas Jones, said a number of countries are experiencing record levels of whooping cough – also known as Pertussis – possibly due to lower infection rates during Covid-19. 

“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.” 

Health officials are said to have been monitoring the situation closely over recent months and met yesterday to review the latest national and international trends in the disease. 

Māori and Pasifika babies will be most affected 

Jones said New Zealand should be ready to see similarly high levels of cases over the next 12 months or more. 

And as in previous epidemics, he said those babies most affected will be Māori and Pasifika children. 

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