Adults are battling whooping cough in the Bay of Plenty, making up half the number of patients suffering from the disease, according to the Bay of Plenty Medical Officer of Health.

Dr Phil Shoemack says there is a nationwide whooping cough outbreak and adults are responsible for a lot of the spread of infection.

BOPDHB has receieved more than 67 cases of whooping cough since January 1.

'Unfortunately our immune system is not perfect and regardless of how you acquire immunity to whooping cough, that immunity doesn't usually last the rest of your life.

'We are now finding a number of adults who get whooping cough infection is not generally as severe as we find in babies. So it's not recognised until they have spread the infection.

'This makes it more difficult to prevent the spread of whooping cough because with a lot of other infections children are normally the ones who spread it but with whooping cough adults are part of the equation as well.”

During the first three months of this year the Bay of Plenty District Health Board reported 67 cases of whooping cough to Toi Te Ora Public Health.

'That's five to six cases a week and unfortunately it is still continuing at that level,” says Phil.

'There are still some issues with some people not taking their children to get it done at all and other instances where people are not getting their children immunised as per the timing which is recommended.

'We talk about on-time immunisation being important. Whooping cough is a really good example that it is the young babies in particular who are at the most risk and most at risk of severe infection.”

Phil says young babies less than six-months-old have by far the highest rate of being hospitalised with whooping cough.

'They are more susceptible to this type of infection than older children. Hence the need to get them immunised as per the timing recommended.”

Whooping cough vaccines boosters are recommended for pregnant women.

Phil says this is funded for women between 28 and 30 weeks of pregnancy.

'We also recommend others who are going to have particularly close contact with young babies - that's either members of the extended family or grandparents - to be vaccinated with the whooping cough vaccine.

'Unfortunately that is not funded and people have to pay.

'Compared to the both the financial cost and also the anguish of seeing a young baby getting whooping cough, it's a small cost to pay to be vaccinated.”