Tips for parents to keep their children safe from whooping cough

Health agencies say the country is the early stages of an epidemic and a national response is now in place.

ESR reporting shows there've been 263 cases in the past four weeks - the most in a four-week period this year.

Plunket clinical lead Linda Wallace says the best course of action is immunisation.

She says people with young babies should be aware of being in highly populated areas where they might be around people who are unwell.

Wallace says whooping cough starts off looking just like a normal cold.