1. Early Childhood Communicable Diseases

2. Whooping cough (pertussis) Whooping cough, while often less severe in older children and adults, can be very severe in babies. Around half of infants less than 1 year old who catch whooping cough have to be hospitalised. Toxins from bacteria block the airways and infants have coughing spasms, struggle to breathe, vomit and often develop pneumonia. Infected older children and adults often pass the infection on to unprotected babies.

3. The worst year for whooping cough cases recently was 2004. There were 3,500 cases notified in New Zealand compared to 2,720 cases in 2005. The 4 babies that have died since 2000 were all less than 3 months old, and not old enough to be fully vaccinated. Newborns have no effective maternal protection against whooping cough. Breastfeeding, while helping babies in many other ways, does not provide them with protection against whooping cough.

4. Measles Measles is a highly contagious virus that starts with a runny nose, then a rash. It can have serious complications including ear infections, diarrhoea, pneumonia, hospitalisation, brain damage and sometimes death. Measles epidemics occur every 3-7 years. In the 1991 epidemic, 7 people died.

5. Rubella Rubella is a virus that spreads through the air and is highly contagious. The disease is usually mild in children but can be passed on to pregnant women, causing severe birth defects including deafness, eye defects, heart defects, mental retardation and more. Several Pacific islands had large epidemics in 2003.

6. Mumps Mumps is a virus that spreads through the air. It causes headaches, loss of appetite and low- grade fever, and swelling of the salivary glands. Meningitis (with a stiff neck and headache) occurs in about 15 per cent of people — but this usually resolves without any permanent damage. Permanent deafness occurs in about one in 20,000 cases.

7. Hepatitis B Infection can happen through spreading of blood or body fluids via cuts and school sores as well as through sexual contact. The disease is often mild in children but the younger a person is when infected, the higher their chance of becoming a long-term carrier and going on to develop cancer or cirrhosis of the liver.

8. Polio Polio is a group of viruses that during epidemics in the 1950s caused thousands of cases of paralysis and sometimes death. With vaccination, however, New Zealand has now been declared ‘polio free’. Worldwide eradication is close but there are still epidemics in Central Africa, where unfounded rumours in 2004 caused some communities to refuse to vaccinate children.

9. Hib disease Hib disease (Haemophilius influenzae type b) can cause many infections. The most severe are epiglottis (swelling in the throat) and meningitis. The bacteria are spread person to person. Before immunisation was available, Hib was the most common cause of life-threatening bacterial infection in children less than 5 years old.

10. Tetanus Tetanus is caused by bacteria found in the soil and usually enters the body through broken skin. It is not passed from person to person but the bacteria are found in the intestines of many farm and household animals. Tetanus is not common in New Zealand any longer as most people are immunised. However it is still seen in unimmunised children, and in elderly people who may have missed their full course.

11. Diphtheria Diphtheria is a bacterial infection that usually causes a thick coating at the back of the throat, which can make it difficult to breathe or swallow. Of all people with diphtheria 5–10 per cent will die. It is rarely seen in New Zealand now.

12. Taken from: http://www.plunket.org.nz/your- child/safety/?tab=215&art=1710&cat=