A baby has died from whooping cough in a Hunter New England District hospital marking the first infant casualty of the infection in NSW this year.
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It is believed the baby was under 12 months old and died in the last weeks of September, but the report was only released this afternoon.
The baby was too young to be vaccinated.
"During the past five years there have been three infant deaths from whooping cough, including this most recent case," a NSW Ministry of Health spokesperson said.
"The other incidents occurred in 2011 and 2012."
The death was recorded in the NSW Health Communicable Diseases weekly report for September 15 to September 21.
"While the weekly number of notifications of pertussis (whooping cough) infection remained low, a new case of pertussis in a child less than one year old was reported this week. The child was too young to be vaccinated," the report stated.
"Sadly, there was also a report of a fatal pertussis infection in another unvaccinated infant who had previously been notified."
Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that affects the respiratory system. It can be life-threatening in babies and lead to pneumonia, feeding problems and weight loss, seizures, brain damage and, in some cases, death.
Older children and adults can also be infected and become a source of infection for babies.
Symptoms of whooping cough often include a runny nose, tiredness, mild fever and a persistent cough.
Vaccination against whooping cough is included as part of the National Immunisation Program. High levels of vaccination within the community are required to protect those too young to be vaccinated.
