Aotearoa’s ongoing whooping cough epidemic has claimed its first life - a pēpi - over the Christmas break.
Announced today by Te Whatu Ora, Dr Matt Reid, a Public Health Medicine Specialist at the National Public Health Service called it “one death too many”.
“Today we are acknowledging the death of an infant from whooping cough over the Christmas period."
“This is the last news any of us wanted."
It is the first recorded death since the national epidemic was declared in November.
Between November 19 and January 10, Te Whatu Ora has been notified of 1,232 cases, 101 of whom have hospitalised.
The highly infectious disease claimed the lives of three pēpi in 2023.
In a statement this morning, Te Whatu Ora warned of the unpredictable nature of the disease, and warned whānau to seek immediate medical help if their pēpi:
- Stops breathing
- Goes blue with coughing
- Appears to have a cold, then cough and have difficulty breathing
- Gets exhausted from coughing
- Is not able to feed properly because of coughing and difficulty breathing
- Loses weight because of difficulty feeding and because the cough causes them to vomit (be sick).
At the beginning of the epidemic, Manatū Hauora Director of Public Health, Dr Nicholas Jones, warned Māori and Pacific pēpi will be most affected.
“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.”
This morning, Dr Reid stressed the importance of the whooping cough pregnancy vaccine, which is free for hapū māmā.
“The best protection for you and your whānau against whooping cough is to get vaccinated – particularly pregnant people, pēpi, tamariki and older adults who are at higher risk.”
For more information, or help to book your vaccination, call the Vaccination Healthline free on 0800 28 29 26 (8.30am-5.00pm Monday to Friday) or visit info.health.nz/bookavaccine.
