Medics call for care as whooping cough spreads

By KEVIN TAYLOR

Whooping cough, which can be fatal in infants, is carving a swathe through the upper North Island.

Auckland medical officer of health Dr Phyllis Taylor said the number of cases notified to health authorities was only the tip of the iceberg and many were going undetected.

Notified cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, peaked at 100 in Auckland in January, but reached 50 again last month after hovering at between 20 and 40 for most of this year.

Dr Taylor said that when the epidemic first appeared last year, it was concentrated on the North Shore, but had since spread all over the city.

The spread was alarming as whooping cough could be deadly, particularly in children aged under 1, she said.

But the region had not yet recorded any deaths from the disease.

Waikato medical officer of health Dr Dell Hood said the problem was getting worse. By mid-September, total notifications for the year had reached 229 in the region, compared with just 11 at the same time last year.

She said many people believed it was a children's disease, but the epidemic was affecting all age groups.

"There's just a huge amount of illness and quite a lot of it is going unrecognised and untreated."

In the Bay of Plenty, there have been 82 confirmed cases this year, compared with just six for the whole of 1999.

Bay medical officer of health Dr Phil Shoemack said the figures represented only those cases that had been notified and confirmed.

Whooping cough is a bacterial illness that causes severe coughing characterised by a whoop at the beginning of the cough, and may end in vomiting or breathing problems.

Just 15 cases were reported in Northland last year, but 86 have been notified already this year.

Northland medical officer of health Dr Jonathan Jarman said the epidemic had abated in some areas, such as Kaitaia, but it was rising in other parts of the region.

Dr Taylor said the epidemic, which began in the South Island more than a year ago, would probably last about 18 months.

The last national outbreak was in 1995-96.

She said the disease was highly contagious and there was little health authorities could do to stop its spread.

Dr Hood said immunisation of babies was essential.

Adults or children who had coughs lasting for more than seven days might have the illness and should consult a doctor.