article_snippet: ‘If you haven't been immunised against whooping cough (pertussis) please consider getting it done.
article_snippet: The Department of Health says The Department of Health does not know how the child contracted this horrific disease, also known as pertussis.
article_snippet: Infectious Diseases Expert at ANU Medical School Canberra, Sanjaya Senanayake, told Daily Mail Australia: 'From my point of view immunisation is wonderful particularly for whooping cough.'
article_snippet: Whooping cough (also known as ‘pertussis’) is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and airways.
article_snippet: The government health website says this horrific disease is 'highly infectious and most serious in babies under the age of 12 months'.
article_snippet: It’s very rare for children who have been immunised against whooping cough to get the disease –
article_snippet: He explained infants are 'at a high risk of dying if infants get infected' and that the death rate from whooping cough in infants under 6 months of age is about 1 per cent. '
article_snippet: Whooping cough is lethal in babies and in adults people can be absent from work for the persistent cough, it's a nasty infection.'
highlights_snippet: Whooping cough is 'highly infectious' and lethal in babies .
  