The Federal Government has launched a new public health campaign aimed at improving quality of information and advice on whooping cough.

 

Under the new campaign, parents will receive the latest advice on what they can do to protect their babies from whopping cough.

 

“Whooping cough is a serious, contagious respiratory infection that puts babies at risk of hospitalisation or even death. It is particularly dangerous to babies aged under six months,” Minister for Health and Aging Nicola Roxon said.

“The best protection for a baby is a course of three vaccinations — at two months after birth, at four months, and then at six months of age. It’s also important for parents to keep an unprotected baby away from people with a cough." 

 

Despite an apparent peak of whooping cough notifications in late 2010, the disease’s activity in 2011 has remained high — with 27,138 notifications in the first nine months of this year.