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As a whooping cough breakout grips Auckland, research shows the hospital admission rates for the potentially deadly disease have actually dropped over the past decade.
A University of Auckland study showed hospital admissions for the disease had dropped by a fifth in the last decade compared to the 1990s.
Paediatrics associate professor Cameron Grant said it is the first time since the 1960s that whooping cough hospitalisation rates had decreased.
"The reduction in hospitalisation rates ... gives all of those working in the area of vaccine delivery confidence, knowing that what they are doing is proving effective in reducing the number of little babies in hospital with this horrible disease," he said.
However, New Zealand's rate of hospitalisation for the disease remains three times higher than Australia or the United States.
Up to 83 people were infected with whooping cough in Auckland last month.
As of July 27, there had been 494 confirmed or probable cases of the infection - up from 411 at the start of July - making it the most significant outbreak in the city since 2004.
Grant said young babies are extremely vulnerable to the disease.
"Most who die from whooping cough are under two months old."
Of those infants admitted to hospital with whooping cough, one in ten will need intensive care. Infants in intensive care have a one-in-six chance of dying or being left with permanent brain or lung damage.
Grant said incomplete or delayed vaccinations were partly to blame.
As of June 2012, 93 per cent of children had received all their doses of whooping cough vaccine, 2 per cent short of the Government's goal.
Grant said immunisation coverage will need to be sustained at high levels over many years.
Until that is achieved the country would continue to experience epidemics of whooping cough such as the one currently gripping the country, he said.
The research was published in this month's issue of The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
An outbreak of whooping cough in Auckland infected up to 83 people last month alone.
As of July 27, there had been 494 confirmed or probable cases of the infection - up from 411 at the start of July - making it the most significant outbreak in the city since 2004.
Recent Queensland research revealed that a resurgence of whooping cough worldwide could be due to an ineffective vaccine. The same vaccine is used throughout the world.
The study found that children vaccinated against whooping cough with the current vaccine were three times more likely to develop the respiratory infection than children who received an earlier version.
But the study also showed that although the current vaccine was less effective, it was known to be safer with fewer side effects than its predecessor.
- © Fairfax NZ News
