WA region among the lowest for whooping cough vaccination nationally

Western Australia’s Gascoyne is one of five areas in the country with the lowest rate of one-year-olds vaccinated against pertussis according to the Immunisation Foundation of Australia (IFA).

Its 2026 Whooping Cough Report Card has been released as Australia enters the warmer months when whooping cough infections often surge.

The Gascoyne region recorded a rate of just 78.7% of one-year-olds vaccinated against whooping cough, behind four areas of coastal New South Wales and Queensland.

Professor Tom Snelling, infectious disease physician and Director of Health and Clinical Analytics in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, described geographically concentrated gaps in vaccination coverage as “a particular vulnerability”.

“Even relatively small declines in vaccination coverage can increase the risk of outbreaks,” he said.

“Geographic pockets with low vaccination uptake tend to experience higher rates of whooping cough infection.”

IFA founder Catherine Hughes, whose 32-day-old son Riley died from whooping cough in 2015, said she was concerned about anti-vaccine sentiment spreading, leaving children exposed to a potentially deadly disease.

“We must stop the spread in its tracks and turn it around before vaccination gaps allow whooping cough to run rampant in more communities," she said.

The rate of infant vaccination against whooping cough in Australia – measured at the age of one year – reached a 25 year low at the end of 2025, dropping just below 90%.

As of November 11, it sat at 90.27% according to the Australian Immunisation Register.

Ms Hughes said knowing the cruelty of whooping cough first-hand, and having seen the suffering it can inflict on young babies, it was "incredibly disheartening to see Australia going backwards" in this area.

The report card highlights that 45% of all whooping cough cases in Australia during the first 11 months of the year were in school-aged children (5-19 years).

In WA, the proportion of adolescents turning 15 who were vaccinated against whooping cough fell by more than 2% between 2024 and 2026 to 80.3%.

The three-in-one booster widely used to vaccinate against whooping cough also protects against diphtheria and tetanus.

Diphtheria has recently returned to the national spotlight, with Australia's Chief Medical Officer declaring it a “communicable disease incident of national significance” earlier in the year following a sharp increase in reported cases.

“Whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus are all serious diseases, but we have vaccines that help protect against all three,” Ms Hughes said.

Australia recorded a record amount of whooping cough cases across 2024/25.

In WA the number of cases, which had sat below 70 between 2021 and 2023, rose to 1079 in 2024 and almost doubled again to 2081 in 2025.

So far this year 1285 cases have been recorded in the state.

While most of those cases have been recorded in the metropolitan area, a higher than usual rate of cases have been seen in the Great Southern, with more than the combined number of cases across all other regional parts of the state – 179 cases, from the Great Southern alone.

According to the Australian Immunisation Register 88.87% of one-year olds in the region are vaccinated against pertussis.