“There have been times when I couldn’t breath for three or four minutes at a time,” he said.

“I’ve ended up in the hospital in the middle of the night because I felt so bad.

“I usually cough so much that I end up vomiting.”

Mr Bloomfield hopes that by telling his story others will be encouraged to have a whooping cough booster shot.

“If you haven’t been immunised, then get it done,” he said.

“Since this happened I’ve been telling everyone I know that they need to have a shot.

“I even rang my 81-year-old father in Parkes and he went and had his shot this week.”

As a result of the whooping cough and associated inactivity, Mr Bloomfield now has a blood clot in his leg and the excessive coughing has caused his back to go out of alignment twice.

Mr Bloomfield said his illness had also taken a toll on his wife Barb’s health as she has also endured weeks of sleepless nights.

Mrs Bloomfield has been extremely concerned over her husband’s ill health.

“Really it’s the worry over not knowing if he’s going to be able to breathe or not,” she said.

“It’s been a terrible time for us.”

Mr Bloomfield expects he’ll spend a long time recovering from the illness.

“I’ve been off work for weeks already,” he said.

“Luckily, I already had holidays booked so I will be able to have more time off at the end of my sick leave.”

Mr Bloomfield said he initially thought he had contracted a cold or flu, however his symptoms escalated to include severe coughing bouts.

Four weeks in, he’s still experiencing breathlessness and coughing bouts which will continue for the next few months.

Ironically the Bloomfields had only just been vaccinated against whooping cough days before Mr Bloomfield’s symptoms became obvious.

Like all grandparents and people who are spending time with babies under one year old, the Bloomfields received their vaccination free of charge.

The acting coordinator of infectious disease control Carol George said whooping cough affects people differently.

“For some people it can be a mild irritating cough and for others it can be bouts of coughing where they are gasping for breath and vomiting,” she said.

According to Ms George, while most people are aware of how devastating the illness can be for infants few people are aware of the impact it can have on an adult’s health.

“The first three weeks are the worse and because it’s often a difficult thing to diagnose people are often still contagious before they are diagnosed,” he said.

“Really the best protection is cough etiquette and making sure you wash your hands frequently.”

FAST FACTS

From January to July 2009 465 cases of whooping cough were diagnosed in the Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS).

Fifty-five cases were diagnosed in GWAHS in July 2009.

n Booster vaccine shots are free for anyone caring for a child under one, expecting a baby or who has close family members who are pregnant.

Eighty per cent of unimmunised children develop it.

It is most common in infants under two.

Adults catch whooping cough because their immunity wanes with age.

Complications include pneumonia, cerebral haemorrhage from coughing, inflammation of the brain, choking and apnoea.