HEALTH bosses are pleading with parents to get the whooping cough vaccine as cases reach their highest level since the 1990s.
There were 2,591 new cases in May – the highest number of any month in the last 30 years.
Pregnant women and babies can receive a free NHS jab to protect themselves against infection.
Nine babies have died since the outbreak began in England in November.
May’s increase in infections brings the total from 7,599 in 2024 to nine times the 858 in 2023.
Dr Mary Ramsay, director of vaccines at the UK Health Security Agency, said: “Vaccination is the best defense against whooping cough and it is vital that pregnant women and babies get their jabs at the right time.
“With cases continuing to rise and, sadly, nine infant deaths since the outbreak began last November, ensuring women are adequately vaccinated during pregnancy has never been more important.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with the families who lost their babies in such a tragic way.”
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Whooping cough is a fast-spreading bacterial infection called pertussis.
It starts like a cold, but the cough can last for weeks and get worse as the infection spreads through the breathing tubes and lungs.
Most cases occur in elderly people, but babies are at greater risk of serious illness or death.
Vaccines are effective, but immunization rates have been falling for years.
Adherence among expectant mothers, babies and young children fell from 75% in December 2017 to just 59% in March this year.
Annual coverage has fallen steadily for at least the past three years.
Vaccination has never been so important
Dr. Maria Ramsay
Pregnant women can receive the vaccine between weeks 20 and 32 of pregnancy and babies receive the vaccine at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age.
NHS England chief midwife Kate Brintworth said: “The rise in whooping cough cases over the last six months is really worrying.
“I urge pregnant women to get vaccinated to help protect their babies.”
MOST DEATHS ARE PREVENTABLE HORRORS
By Sam Blanchard, Health Correspondent
Whooping cough outbreaks come and go in what UK Health Security considers to be a three- to five-year cycle, with this likely to be worsened by a recovery after Covid lockdowns.
The recent wave of deaths is much more worrying.
Most children and adults recover completely, but for a small number of patients – mainly babies – the disease becomes very serious and even fatal.
The UKHSA says the risk of this happening is 92 per cent lower if the baby’s mother receives the vaccine during pregnancy, and more than eight in 10 deaths are babies born to unvaccinated mothers.
But vaccination rates in England fell in the 2010s and 2020s, so that fewer than two in three eligible mothers and children are now protected.
Nine babies have died from the disease since November – less than 0.2 percent of infections, but an unimaginable horror for their families.
The UKHSA will not say how many victims were vaccinated, but statistically it is likely that the majority could have been saved with a free jab.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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