Whooping cough cases explode in Queensland

Following thousands of cases in the first few months of 2025, Queensland is experiencing a worrying increase in whooping cough cases.

According to Queensland Health data, there have already been 2,384 whooping cough cases, which is almost three-and-a-half times the average for 2020–24.

In Queensland, there were 15,012 cases of whooping cough in 2024—more than there had been in the preceding 11 years put together.

Physicians attribute the alarming numbers to poor personal hygiene and a lack of vaccinations since the Covid-19 pandemic.

One child died from the infection last year, highlighting how dangerous the disease is for young children.

According to Professor Paul Griffin, director of infectious diseases at Mater Hospital Brisbane, infection rates over the last 12 months are extremely concerning.

“People need to understand that the numbers are extremely high and higher than what we typically see,” he said.

Additionally, if we include a decline in vaccination rates, that will undoubtedly play a role and increase the importance of those cases.

“We know it’s much worse in unvaccinated people.”

According to Queensland Health, the percentage of one-year-olds who received the disease vaccination decreased from 94.4% at the end of 2018 to 90.8% in 2024.

Pregnant women’s vaccination rates have also decreased, falling from about 77% in 2020 to roughly 70% in 2023.

Complications from whooping cough include pneumonia, brain damage, and even death.

According to Adrian Esterman, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of South Australia, whooping cough outbreaks typically happen in Australia every three to five years.

He claimed that the Covid-19 pandemic had caused a delay in the outbreak, which was first anticipated to occur in 2020–2022.

While acting chief health officer Catherine McDougall stated that vaccination against the infectious respiratory infection was crucial for infants and young children, Professor Esterman urged authorities to encourage vaccination.

“Vaccines save lives, and we know that 75% of pregnant women who receive a whooping cough vaccination are less likely to have their unborn children get the disease,” she said.

For this reason, vaccination is especially important for pregnant women in order to protect both themselves and their unborn children.

“It’s evident that whooping cough is still circulating in the Queensland community, even though the number of cases per week has decreased to between 50 and 80 cases per week over the last four weeks. For this reason, it’s imperative that people get vaccinated to protect themselves and their loved ones.”

Under the National Immunization Program, the whooping cough vaccine is free for pregnant women, children ages two, four, six, and eighteen months, and adolescents ages twelve to nineteen.

Ten years after vaccinations, booster shots are advised.