How worried should I be about the spread of whooping cough? Dr Zoe answers your health questions

Expert advice from Dr Zoe Williams, our resident specialist and NHS GP.

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Q) I keep seeing that whooping cough is spreading in the UK. I have two young children, should I be worried about this? Is it that bad?

A) You are right that whooping cough is currently spreading with more cases than normal and sadly five child deaths this year.

Whooping cough – its medical name – is a bacterial infection that affects the lungs and causes wheezing between coughs that makes a characteristic screaming sound.

The increase is partly due to the fact that, like many childhood infectious diseases, immunity waned after the Covid pandemic, but vaccination rates also declined.

Your children should have been vaccinated as part of their routine vaccination schedule at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age.

Afterwards, children also receive four-in-one preschool support at three years and four months.

It might be worth checking the Red Book, also known as your personal child health record, if you’re not sure, or asking your GP.

It is very young children and those with weakened immune systems who are most at risk, and serious complications occur mainly before six months of age.

Pregnant women need a vaccine during pregnancy to protect their baby when it is born, before they are old enough to get their own vaccine.

Early symptoms tend to be mild and similar to a cold, progressing over one to two weeks into coughing fits that can last several weeks – hence its nickname, “100-day cough.”

Anyone with symptoms should request an urgent medical appointment to take antibiotics to prevent the highly contagious virus from spreading further.