Five babies die of whooping cough after surge fuelled by lockdown

Five babies have died of whooping cough amid a surge in the disease fuelled by lockdown.

More than 2,700 whooping cough cases have been reported across England so far in 2024 – more than three times the amount recorded in the whole of last year.

Unvaccinated pregnant women and children who missed their jabs are being urged to come forward as outbreaks spread across Europe.

The deaths – the highest number for more than a decade – follow warnings that cases could reach a 40-year high this year.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, has been dubbed the “100-day cough” because of how long it can take to recover from it.

Experts warned that the disease spreads quickly, being as infectious as measles, and more infectious than Covid.

Official figures show the vast majority of cases so far this year are in London and the South East amid a slump in vaccination rates since the pandemic.

Kerry Pearson, 26, from Bexley in south east London, said her daughter Polly Deehy developed a rattly cough and laboured breathing when she was just two weeks old at the start of April.

After four days of coughing she turned blue, and her parents, Ms Pearson and partner Jack Deehy, 29, a forklift driver, rushed her to nearby Darrent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent.

When her condition worsened, and her breathing kept stopping, she was transferred to specialists at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London and put onto a ventilator in an induced coma.

Polly was slowly taken off of life-support and is now awake and breathing independently. She left the intensive care unit on April 24 but remained in hospital under observation as she continued to cough. It could last for up to six weeks.

Sharp fall in vaccination rates

Health officials said suppression of the spread of normal disease during lockdown and other restrictions meant a peak year was now “overdue” amid reduced immunity in the population.

The danger has been increased by a sharp fall in vaccination rates, particularly in areas now seeing the worst spread.

Jabs are offered to pregnant women in order to protect their offspring from birth, with babies then given vaccinations against whooping cough as part of the 6-in-1 vaccine.

But latest figures show just 37 per cent of pregnant women in London had been vaccinated by the end of last year, down from 61 per cent before the pandemic.

Across the country, take-up fell among pregnant women by 19 per cent, while take-up among under-5s fell by 4 per cent.

It follows concern about vaccine hesitancy and fatigue, as well as a struggle to access routine jabs at some points during the rollout of covid vaccines.

Figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show the spread of cases across the country, with 1,297 cases in the South East between January 1 and April 21, followed by London (1,032) and the North West (784).

Whooping cough is a cyclical disease which normally peaks every three to five years.

Until this past winter, there had been no deaths since 2019.

After the last major outbreak in 2012, which resulted in 14 deaths, the NHS introduced vaccinations for pregnant women.

In the years since 2013, there have been 26 baby deaths in total.

Just five involved mothers who had been vaccinated, in some cases too close to delivery to confer full protection.

Health officials said the suppression of the disease during the pandemic because of lockdown, social distancing and other restrictions meant a peak year was now “overdue”.

The UKHSA said: “The impact of the pandemic also means there is reduced immunity in the population.”

The disease has spread across Europe during the start of the year after circulation plummeted during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said that the bloc had seen more cases in the first three months of 2024 than an average year between 2012 and 2019.

It confirmed on Wednesday there had been 11 infant deaths and eight deaths among older adults on the continent.

The NHS recommends all pregnant women are vaccinated against whooping cough between 16 and 32 weeks.

Immunity from the jab passes through the placenta to protect newborn babies in their first weeks of life.

When a baby is eight weeks old they can get the six-in-one vaccine, which includes immunisation against whooping cough.

The second dose of the vaccine is offered at 12 weeks and the third at 16 weeks.

When children are three years and four months they can get the four-in-one pre-school booster, which protects against pertussis.

Health officials urged anyone eligible for vaccines who had missed them to come forward.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, said: “With cases of whooping cough continuing to rise sharply across the country, and today’s figures sadly showing five infant deaths, it is vital that families come forward to get the protection they need.

“If you are pregnant and have not been vaccinated yet, or your child is not up to date with whooping cough or other routine vaccinations, please contact your GP as soon as possible, and if you or your child show symptoms ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111.”

Children can have the 6-in-1 jabs until the age of 10.

While vaccines are normally offered in pregnancy, new mothers can also have the jabs in order to confer protection up to eight weeks.

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

“Pregnant women are offered a whooping cough vaccine in every pregnancy, ideally between 20 and 32 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.

“All babies are given three doses of the 6-in-1 jab at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age to protect against whooping cough and other serious diseases such as diphtheria and polio, with a pre-school booster offered at three years four months.

“Whooping cough can affect people of all ages but for very young babies it can be extremely serious. Our thoughts and condolences are with those families who have so tragically lost their baby.”

Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the fall in vaccine uptake and reduced population immunity as a result of social distancing were fuelling the trends.

He said: “This current year looks like we may see more cases than we have seen in any of the last 40 years.”

“The infection can affect anyone who is not vaccinated and even some that are,” Prof Hunter said.

“However, the main risk of death or severe long-term complications is seen in young children, especially those under three months old.

“It is this age group that are most at risk of death and developing longer-term problems such as brain damage. The problem is that this age group is too young for the vaccine in most circumstances.

“That is why we offer vaccines to pregnant women. Not to protect them but to protect their babies during the riskiest first months of life.”