Jury out on altitude cure for whooping cough cases

With notified cases of whooping cough at epidemic levels - 350 new cases in August alone, says the Ministry of Health - sufferers will stop at nothing to find a cure.

Daniel Harpur-Gifkins, 13, and Michael Barr, 40, flew 3050m up into Marlborough's snow-capped mountains this week, hoping the flight would provide a miraculous release from continuous coughing.

It was reported last month that retired Nelson GP Miles Hursthouse said whooping cough sufferers needed to fly at an altitude of 3050m or more for 20 minutes to rid themselves of the ailment.

"It's a wee bit early to see any sort of results at the moment. I think normally it takes a couple of days before you can see an improvement, so we will just have to wait and see," said Daniel's mother, Leigh Gifkins.

But after the first night he still had the odd cough, she said.

"From what I've heard of other people going up in planes, like down south, it was one or two days until they could notice the difference," she said.

Michael Barr said he was feeling a lot better after his flight, which may finally have beaten the whooping cough after two months of coughing.

Last week the Ministry of Health revealed that notified cases of pertussis or whooping cough were at epidemic levels in New Zealand.

More than 350 cases were notified in August, and 70 per cent of cases were from the South Island.

Another 132 cases were notified in the week ending September 10.

The highest number of cases notified in a week in New Zealand was 148 during the last epidemic.

Medical Officer of Health Maree Leonard said pertussis - described by some as the 100-day cough - had continued to spread.

Ten per cent of the 140 reported cases had been in pre-schoolers.

- NZPA