An infant in Queensland died after contracting whooping cough, amid a national outbreak of the infection and concerns about declining vaccination rates.
Queensland Health confirmed that a child had died in the state from the highly contagious respiratory tract infection, as case numbers have increased 23 times compared to 2023. No further details about the death were available, but the ABC has reported the child was two months old.
More than 41,000 cases have been recorded across Australia – most in New South Wales – surpassing the previous annual record of 38,748 in 2011.
Cases of whooping cough typically spike every five years or so, but the 2024 rate has been unexpectedly high, and experts have linked the situation to “disruptions in transmissions” during Covid lockdowns.
Another concern is declining rates of vaccination among pregnant women and young children.
Queensland’s chief health officer, John Gerrard, said Queensland was experiencing the worst number of cases on record.
“This epidemic is the worst year for whooping cough in Queensland on record,” he said.
A spokesperson for Queensland Health said 77.2% of pregnant women were vaccinated in 2020. That rate dropped to 70.7% in 2023.
In some state health regions – including Metro North, the Darling Downs, Torres and Cape and West Moreton – coverage has dropped below 65%.
Vaccination rates among one- and two-year-olds has also dropped compared to before the pandemic.
In December 2018, Queensland’s pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination rate was 94.4% for one-year-olds, and 93.1% for two-year-olds. By the end of the September 2024 quarter, those rates had dropped to 90.8% and 87.9% respectively.
The Queensland Health communicable diseases executive director, Dr Heidi Carroll, said vaccinations for pregnant women reduces the risk of babies contracting whooping cough by 75%. It also reduces the risk of hospitalisation.
“This disease can be life-threatening for young children, with most hospitalisations and deaths related to whooping cough occurring in babies less than six months old,” Carroll said.
Prof Nathan Bartlett from the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute’s infection research program said that people avoided being exposed to infections like whooping cough during the pandemic, when children were not going to school and had limited interactions with others.
“Now these pathogens are circulating among kids – they’ve bounced back – and lots of adults are also getting them,” Bartlett said.
“One of the worst things about whooping cough is that you can end up with a lingering uncontrollable cough that can last for months.
“It’s going to take years for the community levels of respiratory diseases to stabilise. We’ll continue to see waves and spikes of viral and bacterial pathogens. Things are resetting after Covid so it will take time for equilibrium to return”.
