The death of a 6-week old Christchurch baby from whooping cough in 2012 was preventable, a coroner has concluded.

Kiwi babies look likely to get free vaccinations against chickenpox and rotavirus later this year - up to six years after Australia.

The parents of a 6-week-old girl who died of whooping cough say they wish they had known the threat to their baby before they took her home from hospital.

The Waikato District Health Board is offering free whooping cough vaccinations to women from 20 weeks of pregnancy up until to two weeks after the birth of their babies.

A sudden epidemic of polio has ravaged the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A woman plans to appeal to the High Court after an ACC decision not to pay a $250,000 medical bill she was left with when she fell seriously ill after having a flu jab.

The HPV vaccination could mean more women with cervical cancer will not be diagnosed, health officials have warned.

A new vaccine therapy, derived from rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD), could offer hope for colorectal cancer sufferers, researchers say.

A toddler who died in her Australian home a day after having a flu vaccine is a part-Maori girl whose father grew up in Tokoroa.

The maker of the flu vaccine now implicated in a rash of child sickness across Australia has ruled out a "bad batch" is involved.

Epidemic is expected to return, although only five cases have been confirmed so far.