A health expert has slammed parents for not taking vaccination seriously after 19 children attending a primary school in north Brisbane contracted the potentially deadly disease whooping cough . Kilcoy State School is working with Queensland Health after a whooping cough outbreak in the area , but parents have been urged to take vaccination more seriously there . The Sunshine Coast Daily reports that infectious diseases expert Professor Matthew Cooper , a professorial research fellow at the University of Queensland 's Institute for Molecular Bioscience , attributed the outbreak to an anti-vaccination trend . Parents have been accused of not taking vaccination seriously after 19 children attending a primary school in north Brisbane contracted whooping cough . 'It 's unfortunately just part of a growing trend that many people have decided not to immunise , ' he said . 'We 've seen this with other diseases that are more serious than pertussis but unfortunately the more people who choose not to immunise the more likely it is we 'll get outbreaks . ' Although immunisation rates in Queensland have dropped across most age groups there since 2010 , in 2014 the Metro North region had the highest immunisation rate in the state . Kilcoy State School ( pictured ) in north Brisbane is working with Queensland Health after a whooping cough outbreak in the area . There are about 1200 cases of whooping cough every year in the Metro North area . This region covers the Brisbane River to past Caboolture . in total there have been 86 confirmed cases in 2015 - alarmingly 16 in the past week - compared to 113 last year . Statewide , 232 cases have been reported . Parents were urged to take children with any symptoms to their family doctor . Dr Cooper said it was essential to convince parents of the importance of vaccination . He said if vaccination rates continued to fall there could be an increase in unfortunate and preventable deaths . Parents were urged parents to take children with any symptoms to their family doctor , and for children who tested positive to stay away from school for five days .
Kilcoy State School working with infectious Health to improve situation . Professor Matthew Cooper encourages parents to take vaccination seriously . The Infectious diseases report says ' parents have decided not to immunise ' There have been no confirmed cases in 2015 in area - wide in the past week . doctor Cooper says parents should know the importance of vaccination .