text: Tara and Gavin Hills, from Kanata, Canada, have been firmly in the anti-vaccination camp, that is until their seven children contracted whooping cough. At first, Mrs Hills thought her kids had a bad cold, but then she heard their deep, booming cough that made them gag and vomit - 'the kind of cough that stops a parent's heart,' she recalled to National Post. After looking up the symptoms online - powerful coughing fits, runny nose, stringy phlegm - the Hills took their ailing brood to the hospital on the morning of April 2. Scroll down for video . Change of heart: Tara and Gavin Hills, have been anti-vaxxers for six years, but all that changed when their seven young children came down with whooping cough . Public confession: Mrs Hills, pictured left and right with her husband, penned a blog post about her decision to ditch the anti-vaxxer stance . Large brood: The Hills' six sons and a daughter between the ages of 10 months and 10 years (pictured) remain in quarantine and are being treated with antibiotics . Four days later, lab tests confirmed whooping cough - an infection of the respiratory system characterized by severe coughing spells, which mainly affects infants and children between the ages of 11 and 18. According to KidsHealth.org, before a vaccine was developed, whooping cough - also known as pertussis - killed up to 10,000 people in the US annually. The introduction of the vaccine has reduced the number of fatalities caused by the infection each year to 30, but in recent years the number of cases has been on the rise. Tara Hills said she and her husband had their first three children partially vaccinated, but then stopped because they have grown suspicious of what she described on her blog, The ScientificParent.com, as the 'Big Pharma-Government-Media conspiracy.' Weary: Tara wrote that she and her husband decided to stop vaccinating their children because they didn't trust the health care system . At risk: The Hills' three eldest kids were partially vaccinated, but the four youngest ones got no shots at all, leaving them vulnerable . 'Were these vaccines even necessary in this day and age?' Mrs Hills wrote. 'Were we unwittingly doing greater harm than help to our beloved children? So much smoke must mean a fire so we defaulted to the "do nothing and hope nothing bad happens" position.' The Hills first began questioning their controversial anti-vaxxer stance after hearing of a massive measles outbreak at Disneyland earlier this year. At first, the parents' fear of contagion proved weaker than their mistrust of the medical system. But then Tara and her husband started looking at information from government agencies and reputable health organizations. In an ironic twist - one of many in the story of the Hills' evolution as anti-vaxxers - their children have been scheduled to get their first shots soon when whooping cough struck, reported CTV News. 'I looked again at the science and evidence for community immunity and found myself gripped with a very real sense of personal and social responsibility before God and man,’ Tara Hills wrote on her blog, adding that one of her main concerns was that her kids may have infected her sister's unvaccinated infant. The Hills' youngest children are still battling the illness, but are expected to recover . Her six sons and a daughter ranging in age from 10 months to 10 years have been ordered to remain in quarantine at their house in Kanata until they stop being contagious, which will take five days. On Thursday, Mrs Hills said her two eldest children have turned a corner and are now on the mend, while the younger kids are still battling the illness with the help of antibiotics. In her blog post titled Learning the Hard Way: My Journey from #AntiVaxx to Science, which has been viewed more than 2million times, Hills acknowledged the awkward position she has found herself in. 'I’m writing this from quarantine, the irony of which isn’t lost on me,' she wrote. 'I am not looking forward to any gloating or shame as this 'defection' from the antivaxx camp goes public, but this isn't a popularity contest. Right now my family is living the consequences of misinformation and fear.'
target: Tara and Gavin Hills, from Canada, stopped vaccinating their children six years ago after losing trust in the health care system .
  All seven Hills kids, between ages of 10 months and 10 years, came down with whooping cough last week .
  Tara Hills did an about-face in the wake of her family's health crisis, writing a blog post about how her stance on vaccination has changed .