There is another growing public health concern in New Brunswick: whooping cough.

As is the case with a measles outbreak in Saint John, it's prompting special vaccination clinics.

“It is a matter of concern, which is why we're offering this intervention,” said Dr. Na-Koshie Lamptey, New Brunswick’s regional medical officer of health.

At the end of April, the health department declared an outbreak when there were 12 cases at several area schools. Now, they're dealing with 10 new cases bringing the total to 22.

“Whooping cough is a disease that makes people have a prolonged cough and they can get sick enough that they have these fits of coughing where it's difficult for them to breathe at the end, so they end up either vomiting or gagging,” said Lamptey.

The 10 new cases have been primarily found among young children, with one baby under six months of age diagnosed.

No one has been hospitalized, but the department is offering vaccination clinics to try and contain the outbreak.  They still haven't pinpointed the reason for the spread.

“When we interview confirmed cases and we review their activities, sometimes we find commonalities between activities between cases,” Lamptey said. “But often, there are several settings they could have had in common, so it's hard to pinpoint which one was a source of transmission.”

Pharmacist Paul Bowman says the best line of defence against whooping cough, or pertussis, is a preventative vaccine, which is given to children on their routine immunization schedule.

“Whooping cough vaccine is also normally combined with diphtheria and tetanus vaccination, too, and they can be given every five to 10 years, because the effectiveness does wane over time,” Bowman said.

Dr. Lamptey said the Department of Health could not confirm if the initial 12 cases which were reported during the month of April had been fully cleared, as reporting procedure for the province doesn't require a subsequent visit to the doctor, and thus, no report back to the department.

She does believe they have been cleared though, as those who were infected were asked to stay home throughout the course of their five-day antibiotic treatment, at which point, they should have been cleared from the infection.

“We don't usually hear about them after they've received the treatment,” Lamptey said.

The department urges residents to be aware of their surroundings, and in particular, pay attention if anyone around you has a persistent cough and demonstrates that trademark whooping cough sound.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jessica Ng.