Health officials on the North Coast of New South Wales say there is now an epidemic of whooping cough in the region and they are advising young children and those who have close contact with them to be vaccinated.
Director of the North Coast Public Health Unit Paul Corben, says 936 cases of the disease have been recorded on the New South Wales north coast so far this year compared to just over 1,000 for all of 2008, which was itself considered to be a bad year.
Mr Corben says the outbreak has now become a full-blown epidemic and has now spread to communities that have high vaccination rates.
According to Mr Corben the high rates suffered earlier on were fuelled by low vaccination rates in some communities but there is now a very high level of disease right across communities and whooping cough is making inroads into communities that have very high vaccination rates.
Mr Corben says they are very concerned that amongst that 936 cases, there are 38 children under the age of one year and it is young babies who are most vulnerable - young babies need to complete a course of vaccinations.
He says a four-week-old baby from the north coast died in March this year from whooping cough and young children and those who have close contact with them should be vaccinated to avoid further deaths.
Whooping cough (pertussis) is a serious, contagious respiratory infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis - it begins like a cold and then the characteristic cough develops which can last for months, even after antibiotic treatment is completed and the person is no longer infectious.