The toll of cases confirmed for whooping cough has spiked up rapidly over 500 no further this year, marking a massive escalation as compared to the 74 cases confirmed till the same time during 2011.

The 507 cases comprised of more than 198 confirmed for whooping, while another 224 are almost doubtlessly suffering from the same reason. In addition, five more people have been being suspected for carrying strains of the immensely dreadful whooping cough and another 80 are under investigation at the moment.

The stats have been made available by the ESR data that was released earlier during the week.

It has been further made clear by the ESR report that around 22 people were rushed to hospitals for suspected whooping cough, though no mortality has been reported as of now. The highest toll of cases was reported in regions of Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, and surrounding areas during the two weeks that went by.

The cases being confirmed for whooping cough, also known as pertussis, were spotted making a massive leap towards the dusk of the year 2011. Whooping cough is said to be an extremely infectious bacterial contagion which, in the majority of cases, spread through sneezing and coughing.

It can also result in causing spells of vomiting, harsh coughing attacks along with a variety of critical health complications, including the likes of brain inflammation and pneumonia.

It is claimed by experts that the impact of whooping cough goes predominantly severe for infants and youngsters. Whooping cough can be generally identified by symptoms like stern coughing spells that fetch along a “whooping” sort of sound while having a breath in.

It’s however nothing new for the world to witness such an outbreak of the infection, mainly because it generally have a tendency of invading people within a period of every three to five years.