What whooping cough is
Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.
People with whooping cough can have severe coughing fits. The cough can linger for weeks or even months.
Vaccination is the best way to prevent whooping cough.
Why it matters to public health
Whooping cough can cause severe disease, and even death.
People with whooping cough can be contagious for several weeks and spread the disease to others they have contact with.
It is most serious for babies who are too young to be fully vaccinated, so protecting babies and pregnant people from infection is an important public health priority.
In 2024, more than 57,000 cases of whooping cough were reported in Australia. This was the highest yearly number since we started recording whooping cough cases in 1991.
Children aged 5 to 14 years made up more than half of all reported cases (57%) in 2024.
Whooping cough can spread quickly in homes, schools and other settings.
Because of these major impacts we monitor and report on cases in Australia. Check the latest case numbers using our data visualisation tool.
Symptoms
Common symptoms in the first week of illness include:
- runny nose
- sneezing
- mild dry cough.
After 1 to 2 weeks, the cough usually gets worse, and there can be long episodes of heavy coughing. These episodes can sometimes end in vomiting.
The ‘whoop’ sound between coughing episodes is caused by taking a quick breath. But this doesn’t always happen.
Babies and young children might not cough but might have trouble breathing.
healthdirect’s symptom checker can help you decide whether to see a healthcare professional.
Onset of symptoms
Symptoms usually start 7 to 10 days after getting infected, but this can range from 4 to 21 days.
How it spreads
Whooping cough can spread easily through respiratory droplets and secretions from your respiratory tract. When you cough, sneeze, speak or sing, these droplets spread through the air and land on people or surfaces.
People can catch whooping cough by:
- their mouth, nose or eyes coming into contact with these droplets
- breathing in these droplets
- having direct physical contact with the infected person.
Infectious period
People with whooping cough can infect others from when their first symptoms begin. You are considered infectious until either:
- 3 weeks after the cough starts
- you have finished 5 days of treatment with an appropriate antibiotic prescribed by a healthcare professional.
Prevention
Eligible people – including children and pregnant people – can get vaccines for free under the National Immunisation Program or state or territory programs. If you are not eligible for a free vaccine, you can buy one from your healthcare professional or pharmacy.
The protection you get from the whooping cough vaccine wears off over time, so check with your healthcare professional to see whether you need a booster dose.
The best way to protect against whooping cough is to get vaccinated.
Vaccination:
- protects against serious illness with whooping cough
- during pregnancy protects babies after they are born – antibodies are transferred through the placenta
- reduces the number of people who get infected in the community.
Getting vaccinated also helps to protect babies who are too young to be fully vaccinated and other people who aren’t immune.
Other ways to protect yourself against whooping cough include:
- regularly washing your hands
- covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing
- disposing of used tissues in the bin
- putting physical distance between yourself and others
- avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth, particularly if you are around people who are unwell.
Other ways to protect others against whooping cough include:
- avoiding contact with babies under 6 months and pregnant people if you are unwell
- seeing your healthcare professional if you have a coughing illness
- regularly washing your hands, especially around babies and pregnant people
- coughing and sneezing into your elbow or a tissue, especially around babies and pregnant people
- keeping unwell children home from childcare or school.
Read more ways to prevent whooping cough.
High-risk groups and settings
Some people are at greater risk of getting whooping cough or getting very sick from it.
Whooping cough can spread quickly in homes and other settings including:
- childcare centres
- schools
- healthcare facilities.
If you are at greater risk, or have regular contact with somebody at greater risk, it is especially important to:
- discuss your vaccination status with your doctor and get vaccinated, if recommended
- take steps to protect yourself.
People at greater risk of severe disease
Whooping cough poses a greater risk of severe illness for:
- babies – especially those aged under 6 months, who are the most likely to need hospital care
- people who have not been fully vaccinated
- older people – especially those aged over 65 years.
People at greater risk of exposure
Anyone can get whooping cough, but people may be at greater risk of being exposed to whooping cough if they:
- are in a place where whooping cough is circulating in the community
- live, work, or go to school or childcare with somebody who has whooping cough.
Diagnosis and treatment
Your healthcare professional can diagnose whooping cough with a test. The sample is usually collected from the nose or throat with a swab and sent to a laboratory for testing.
Read more about diagnosing whooping cough.
You should see your healthcare professional if you think you or your child might:
- have whooping cough
- have had close contact with someone who has whooping cough.
You can use healthdirect’s directory to find a health service near you.
Your healthcare professional might prescribe antibiotics to treat whooping cough. Antibiotics can reduce your risk of spreading whooping cough to other people.
Read more about how to manage or treat whooping cough.
Surveillance and reporting
Whooping cough (pertussis) is a nationally notifiable disease – these are diseases that present a risk to public health.
Health authorities in each state and territory report new confirmed and probable cases to us daily through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.
This is part of our surveillance activities, which help us monitor case numbers around the country and understand disease patterns.
We analyse this data, and report on whooping cough case numbers through our data visualisation tool, where you can filter and search the latest information.
Outbreaks
Outbreaks of whooping cough tend to occur every few years in Australia and worldwide. Outbreaks can happen at any time of the year.
Outbreaks can occur in high-risk groups and settings.
During outbreaks, state and territory governments might take extra public health actions to prevent further infections. These can include:
- monitoring people for symptoms where the outbreak is occurring
- promoting vaccination to people who live or work where the outbreak is occurring
- alerting healthcare professionals in the community
- temporarily closing an affected childcare facility
- issuing media alerts to the wider community.
Support
For information about whooping cough in your state or territory see:
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia.
For travel advice, see Smartraveller.
We regularly add new content to this website. This will include more topics and diseases. In the meantime, information about other diseases in Australia is on the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website.