CASES of whooping cough in the Hunter New England Health area rose by almost 190 per cent from 2014 to 2015 – and early figures from this year suggest those numbers will only increase.

So far this year, there have been 161 reported cases of whooping cough in the region, compared to 60 at the same time last year.

There were 452 notifications of the disease, also known as pertussis, in 2014. That rose to 1319 in 2015.

Gabby and Dave Robertson’s 10-month old daughter Emma tested positive for whooping cough on Monday, despite the family being fully immunised.

“She had a bit of a cough, but she was just not herself,” Mrs Robertson said.

“Then on Thursday she started with this cough. It went downhill pretty quickly in 24 hours.”

Emma choked, turned blue and vomited during coughing fits.

“She just wasn’t getting any air in, and that shocked the hell out of Dave and I,” Mrs Robertson said.

“The cough doesn’t start until week three, so you don’t realise you’ve got it, and you don’t know when they started to be contagious.”

Emma’s cough and symptoms could continue for another eight weeks.

“All you have to see is a child go through this for 24 hours and you wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemies,” she said.

Whooping cough can initially present like a common cold. In adults it is called the 100-day cough.

Cases of the disease reached a five-year high of 12,240 cases in NSW in 2015.