Whooping cough outbreak is ‘well overdue’, experts say

Riley was just three weeks old when he developed a sniffle, and four weeks old when he died.

In 2015, Catherine Hughes’ son had caught whooping cough, a respiratory infection that attacks the airways and causes bouts of uncontrollable coughing.

Though it is not always severe, it can last for months and cause serious health problems for children and young babies when extreme coughing fits lead to difficulty breathing, vomiting, incontinence and broken ribs.

Riley’s cough quickly evolved into pneumonia and was eventually placed on life support as his body fought the infection

But it wasn’t enough.

Ms Hughes’ son passed away at 32 days old, too young to receive a whooping cough vaccine.

‘Riley’s death shattered our world,’ she said.

‘We were heartbroken and lost. But we knew we that we had to do something to prevent other families from experiencing the same pain.’

Riley was one of the more than 20,000 Australian cases in the most recent whooping cough epidemic.

And with outbreaks expected every three to five years, University of Sydney professor Robert Booy says the next wave is imminent.

‘It’s only a matter of time before we see a resurgence of whooping cough, quite possibly in the spring and summer months when infections traditionally spike,’ he said.

‘It’s very much the sleeping bear of respiratory disease right now.’

The infection is more contagious than COVID-19, the flu or measles, Prof Booy says, with some epidemics nearing 40,000 infections.

Anyone who catches whooping cough also remains contagious for three weeks or until they have completed a course of antibiotics, which means one sick person could infect up to 17 other unvaccinated people.

Since her son’s death, Ms Hughes has successfully advocated for the introduction of free whooping cough vaccines for pregnant women and founded the Immunisation Foundation of Australia.

‘There is huge room for improvement when it comes to reducing the spread of whooping cough in the broader community,’ she says.

‘Many are oblivious to the need for a booster vaccine and will likely have minimal protection against whooping cough.’

Though the sickness is often associated with babies and children, adults make up half the whooping cough cases.

But than 80 per cent of Australians cannot remember receiving a booster shot, even though they are required every 10 years to maintain a strong level of immunity.

With anticipated increases in social events and travel during the warmer months, Prof Booy and Ms Hughes called on Australians to be vigilant and check their vaccination history.