'Unacceptable' gap found in whooping cough controls

Hospitals are sleeping on an opportunity to vaccinate more Australians against whooping cough, a disease that's infecting the population at record rates.

A probe from the Immunisation Foundation of Australia finds few hospitals are stocking a whooping cough-containing booster to jab patients with tetanus-prone wounds.

That's despite health guidelines recommending emergency departments use the combined vaccine in routine wound management to help boost protection against whooping cough (pertussis), with studies suggesting immunisation levels are "concerningly low".

Australia is in the grips of an unprecedented outbreak of whooping cough, an infection that can be life-threatening for babies and young children.

Authorities have been notified of 80,000 cases in the past two years, an all-time high.

Often referred to as the "100-day cough", the bacterial infection attacks the airways and causes uncontrollable coughing and trouble breathing.

It is more contagious than the flu or COVID-19.

Immunisation foundation founder Catherine Hughes said an opportunity to boost immunisation rates against the dangerous disease was being missed.

"It's unacceptable that so many vaccines used for tetanus in Australian hospitals do not include added protection against whooping cough, despite established national recommendations," she said.

Ms Hughes lost her 32-day-old son Riley to the disease a decade ago.

The probe by the vaccination advocacy group found 401 of 469 hospitals were stocking the older diphtheria and tetanus vaccine, not the one that also provides protection against whooping cough and costs a few dollars extra per dose.

Earlier research has found one million adults older than 50 had been given the older vaccine rather than the recommended whooping cough combined jab when seeking tetanus protection.

Raina MacIntyre, head of global biosecurity at UNSW's Kirby Institute, said vaccinating adults was key to managing the outbreak.

"Adults are a large component of the massive pertussis epidemic we've seen unfold in Australia, so vaccination of adults is part of the solution," Professor MacIntyre said.

"Whooping cough is deadly for infants but has also caused serious complications in adults."