HEALTH chiefs are begging mums-to-be to get the whooping cough jab after another infant has died.
Ten children have now died in England in what is thought to be the biggest outbreak since the 90s.
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Pregnant women and infants can get a free NHS jab to protect against the infection.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed there were 2,427 cases of the ‘100-day cough’ in June, taking the total this year to 10,493.
It is a huge surge from 858 cases and one death during the whole of 2023.
Dr Mary Ramsay, vaccines director at the UK Health Security Agency, said: “Vaccination is the best defence against whooping cough and it is vital that pregnant women and young infants receive their vaccines at the right time.
Read more on whooping cough
“With cases continuing to rise and sadly 10 infant deaths since the outbreak began last November, ensuring women are vaccinated in pregnancy has never been more important.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with those families who have so tragically lost their baby.”
The illness, real name pertussis, is a bacterial infection of the lungs.
It starts like a cold but the cough may then last for weeks, or ‘100 days, and get worse as the infection spreads into the breathing tubes and lungs.
Young babies may also make a distinctive ‘whoop’ or have difficulty breathing.
Most cases during this outbreak were in those aged 15 years or older.
MOST DEATHS ARE A PREVENTABLE HORROR
By Sam Blanchard, Health Correspondent
WHOOPING cough outbreaks come and go on what the UK Health Security reckons is a three to five year cycle, with this one probably worsened by a bounceback after the Covid lockdowns.
The recent spate of deaths is of much greater concern.
Most children and adults make a full recovery but for a tiny number of patients – mostly babies – it turns very serious and even fatal.
The UKHSA says the risk of this is 92 per cent lower if the baby’s mum got her jab during pregnancy, and more than eight out of 10 deaths are of infants born to unvaccinated mums.
But rates of vaccination in England have tumbled in the 2010s and 2020s so that fewer than two in three eligible mums and children are now protected.
Nine babies have died of the bug since November – less than 0.2 per cent of infections but an unimaginable horror for their families.
The UKHSA will not say how many victims were vaccinated but, statistically, it’s likely most could have been saved with a free jab.
However, more than 300 have been reported in babies under three months, who are at greatest risk of dying.
Babies and young children who survive may have long-term neurological or lung damage.
According to existing data, cases of whooping cough from April to June 2024 exceed cases in any quarter since 1990.
UKHSA have put this outbreak down to a “peak year” of the cyclical disease being overdue.
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It also said the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic meant immunity to the infection is reduced amongst the population.
Vaccines are effective at bolstering immunity, but immunisation rates have been falling for years.
Uptake among mums-to-be, babies and young children has dropped from 75 per cent in December 2017 to just 59 per cent in March this year.
Yearly coverage has dropped continuously for at least the past three years.
Pregnant women can get the jab between weeks 20 and 32 of their pregnancy and babies are given it at eight, 12 and 16 weeks old.
GP’s warning over whooping cough
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, tells Sun readers how to avoid whooping cough:
Data from the UKHSA shows there have been more than 10,000 cases of whooping cough since the start of the year. The RCGP’s own Research and Surveillance Centre data shows rates are well above what is normal for this time of year.
Whooping cough is, for most people, an unpleasant experience that can cause restless nights and shortness of breath.
But for some it can be far more serious.
People who have a weakened immune system, pregnant women, and the very young or elderly are prone to more distressing symptoms, including breathing difficulties and injuries to the abdomen due to heavy coughing. It can cause some patients to vomit.
This can be avoided, though.
The whooping cough vaccine is given to babies and children as part of the NHS Childhood Vaccination Programme. Pregnant women can also get vaccinated to provide passive protection for their baby until they are old enough to be vaccinated themselves.
That we’re seeing an outbreak shows that engagement with vaccines is not where it needs to be.
Vaccination programmes are for everyone’s safety, so we mustn’t be complacent.
We’re urging all parents to check that their children’s vaccinations – and their own – are up to date, and if they’re not, to make an appointment to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
We’re also urging pregnant women to get vaccinated when it is offered, which should be between 16-32 weeks of pregnancy, but can be given up until labour, to protect their babies in the first weeks of life.
