Whooping cough deaths ‘will rise’ after ‘worst outbreak for 40 years’ kills 5 babies – as doctors make vaccine plea

DISEASE experts have warned that the number of whooping cough deaths ‘may well rise’ as England faces its worst outbreak in 40 years.

It comes after reports that five British babies younger than three months old have died from the bacterial infection this year.

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It’s believed that three of the five grieving mothers had jabs during pregnancy to protect their children.

Eight out of 10 infant deaths since 2012 have been in babies born to unvaccinated mums, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warning that uptake of the free NHS whooping cough jab among pregnant women has dropped in recent years.

Getting vaccinated while pregnant can pass on immunity to your baby in the first few months of their life, when they’re most vulnerable to complications from the illness.

“Vaccination remains the best defence and it is vital that pregnant women and young infants receive their vaccines at the right time,” Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA, stressed.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the lungs, which is also called pertussis.

It’s seen a huge surge in cases in the first three months of this year – 2,793 up from the 853 cases and one death recorded during the whole of 2023.

With data showing that the number of whooping cough deaths so far this year is the highest since 2014, experts have warned that they might continue to rise.

Writing for the Daily Mail, Dr Saleyha Ahsan said: “There is, inevitably, a lag between deaths and official reported figures, so already, by mid-May, the number of deaths is thought to be higher.

“And with paediatric intensive care units now on ‘surge capacity’ because of both pertussis, and measles – which means in essence there are many cases – that number may well, tragically, rise.”

The UKHSA said the bug peaks every three to five years and the last spike in the UK was in 2016, meaning a peak year in cases is “overdue”.

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Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the latest rise in cases was fuelled by factors such as falling vaccination uptake, reduced community transmission during lockdowns and waning population immunity.

Whooping cough “used to be much more common in the last century up until the vaccine was introduced”, he went on.

The UK instituted routine vaccination against the illness in 1957, to curbs huge scale outbreaks that could affect up to 150,000 people and kill 300 in a single year.

“However, this current year looks like we may see more cases than we have seen in any of the last 40 years,” Prof Hunter warned.

Pertussis will usually start off as a cold-like illness but it can evolve in a hacking, long-last cough.

Symptoms can last for weeks or months, which is why it’s been dubbed the ‘100-day cough’.

Treatment for it can depend on your age and how long you’ve had the infection.

Hospital treatment is usually needed if you have severe whooping cough, or your baby is under six months old.

Professor Andrew Preston from the University of Bath’s Milner Centre for Evolution said: “The Covid-19 pandemic saw a dramatic fall in the incidence of whooping cough – and other respiratory infections – due to the greatly reduced mixing of people during that time.

“Cases have been rising since the end of restrictions and a peak year had been expected to arise soon.”

But he noted that vaccination rates had waned compared to pre-pandemic levels – down from over 96 per cent coverage to just under 93 per cent last year for infants and form 70 per cent to under 60 per cent in mums.

“This results in many more young babies and infants susceptible to infection,” Prof Preston warned.

“It is tragic to see babies dying from whooping cough and with cases on the rise it is vital for vaccination rates to recover.”

Pregnant women are offered a free NHS whooping cough vaccine between 16 and 32 weeks, while babies are given three doses of the 6 in 1 jab at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age to protect against whooping cough and other serious diseases such as diphtheria and polio.

A pre-school booster is also offered at three years and four months.