Two babies are in Dunedin Hospital with whooping cough, prompting a call for parents to vaccinate their children.
Southern District Health Board medical officer of health Dr John Holmes said the two cases were the only two notified in the board's area.
Both aged under 1, the babies were partly vaccinated, which meant they were not fully protected.
They had both been in hospital more than a week.
Dr Holmes did not know how ill they were.
Unvaccinated babies relied on those around them being immune, he said.
Whooping cough was difficult to diagnose in its early stages, often appearing like other upper respiratory infections.
People suffering a respiratory infection and cough were asked to stay away from babies and preferably stay at home.
• Health authorities were geared up for the Auckland measles outbreak to reach the South, Dr Holmes said.
Information resources for the public, schools and health professionals would appear on the Southern DHB website if and when the first confirmed cases of measles appeared in the district, he said.
Whooping cough
• Highly contagious bacterial infection.
• About seven out of 10 babies under 6 months who catch it are admitted to hospital; one in 30 of those admitted to hospital die.
• Infants under 1 are most at risk.
• The vaccine, given in three doses in combination, protects about 80% of recipients until the age of 6.
Source: Immunisation Advisory Centre.
