Children starting childcare, primary or secondary school in 2019 are urged by the NSW Health to ensure they are up to date with their immunisations. 

According to NSW Health, even though 95 per cent of NSW children are fully immunised, some have missed out on important vaccines against highly infectious diseases such as whopping cough and measles. 

“Our busy lives sometimes lead to delays in children being vaccinated on time, or occasionally missing a dose altogether,” Director of Communicable Disease, Dr Vicky Sheppeard said. 

“Last year was a relatively quiet year for whopping cough,” Dr Sheppeard said. “But cases are on the rise and we expect 2019 to be an outbreak year.” 

Outbreaks of whopping coughs usually occur every three to four years as the community’s immunity declines. 

Moreover, there have already been 11 cases of measles detected in NSW since Christmas. 

Parents of children starting childcare, primary and secondary school are also reminded to ensure they have their child’s immunisation history statement. 

Students are required to fulfil immunisation requirements in primary and secondary schools as the schools are now required to request an immunisation history statement when students enrol.

Immunisation history statements can be downloaded from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).  

“Making sure that all children are up to date with their immunisations reduces their risk of getting a serious illness, and helps protect babies who are too young to be fully vaccinated,” Dr Sheppeard said.