Three more babies die from whooping cough as cases surge

Three more babies have died from whooping cough, with pregnant people being urged to get the vaccine.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis can be fatal for infants, who cannot get the vaccine until they are eight weeks old.

This means at least eight babies have died from the disease since the start of the year.

There have been 4,793 confirmed cases of whooping cough between January and April, according to figures released today by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

There were just 858 cases in the whole of 2023.

Whooping cough gets its name from the characteristic ‘whoop’ sounds young children make when coughing, a symptom seen less frequently in adults.

While adults tend to experience whooping cough as just another stubborn cough, it can cause youngsters to stop breathing, and have seizures and pneumonia.

It can be easy to shake off whooping cough as nothing more than a cold at first, with a runny nose and sore throat among the initial symptoms.

But after about a week, the infection can develop into coughing bouts that last for a few minutes. Once a person gets the cold-like symptoms, they are contagious.

Pertussis, which is caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, is a ‘cyclical disease that peaks every three to five years,’ the UKHSA says. The last ‘cycle’ was in 2016, while the last major outbreak was 2012.

The next cycle of the disease has only recently started, health officials added, because the lockdown measures limited the contact people had with one another.

However, it also means people have less immunity to the bacterial infection.

Of the 4,793 cases confirmed between January and April this year, around half were aged 15 years or older, more than a quarter children aged between 10 and 14 and 181 were infants.

In the 2012 outbreak, 407 babies aged three months or below became infected with the disease.

With whooping cough cases climbing, the UKHSA is recommending that all pregnant people get the whooping cough jab, which not only protects their own health but also their babies.

Yet fewer and fewer pregnant women are getting the vaccine, with uptake dropping last year to 59.5%, one of its lowest levels since 2016.

When a woman receives the whooping cough vaccine, the antibodies are shared with the fetus.

These antibodies stay with the baby until they are born, with the NHS offering vaccines for the baby four more times.

The consequences of not getting the vaccine can be dire, Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said.

‘With whooping cough case numbers across the country continuing to rise and sadly the further infant deaths in April, we are again reminded how severe the illness can be for very young babies,’ she said.

‘Pregnant women should have a whooping cough vaccine in every pregnancy, normally around the time of their mid-pregnancy scan (usually 20 weeks).

‘This passes protection to their baby in the womb so that they are protected from birth in the first months of their life when they are most vulnerable and before they can receive their own vaccines.

‘The vaccine is crucial for pregnant women to protect their babies from what can be a devastating illness.’

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, added: ‘With cases of whooping cough continuing to rise sharply across the country, and today’s figures from UKHSA sadly showing further infant deaths, it is vital that families come forward to get the protection they need.

‘NHS teams are working hard to ensure local vaccination services are easily accessible for all through GP practices and some maternity services, and we urge all pregnant women to get vaccinated to help protect their babies in the first few weeks of their life – parents should also ensure that their children get protected in the first few months after birth as part of the routine NHS vaccine offer.

‘If you or your child have symptoms of whooping cough, ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.