South East health experts urging people to get vaccinated for whooping cough
The UK Health Security Agency has confirmed cases have reached 10,000
Last updated 12th Aug 2024
Pregnant women across the South East are being urged to get vaccinated for whooping cough to protect their babies from birth onwards.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed more than 300 have been reported in babies under three months old, who are at the greatest risk from the infection.
Another infant has died after contracting whooping cough, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease in the current outbreak in England to 10.
Dr Rachael Hornigold is the UKHSA lead consultant in heath protection for Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
She said: “The people that we're most concerned about with whooping cough are really young babies. So, babies up to the age of about 8 weeks, which is when the first vaccine comes in. We have noticed some children at that age can be really unwell and sadly can even die from whooping cough.
“The good news is we do have something we can do, which is vaccinate all pregnant mothers during their pregnancy so they can pass that protection along to their baby so that they are reduced risk of being affected by whooping cough.”
Confirmed cases in the second quarter, from April to June, exceeded those in any quarter of the last major whooping cough outbreak in 2012.
The current outbreak is thought to have begun in November last year, with the first infant death confirmed in December.
Whooping cough cases have been at high levels across all regions in England because of a combination of factors, including reduced immunity resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic when cases plummeted, health officials said.
It is a cyclical disease that peaks every three to five years with the last such increase occurring in 2016, meaning the latest peak is "overdue".
The number of pregnant women with vaccination coverage in March was 58.9%, far lower than the peak coverage of 72.6% in March 2017.
This is despite evidence showing that vaccination at the right time in pregnancy provides 92% protection against infant death.