Warning as terrifying ‘child-killing’ infection cases rise 17-fold in a year – health chiefs beg the public to get vaccinated
Whooping cough cases surged to their highest level in more than two decades last year due to a terrifying outbreak, official figures show.
Health chiefs say Covid lockdowns have fuelled England’s unprecedented epidemic of pertussis, nicknamed the ‘100-day cough’ because it’s notoriously hard to shake off.
Almost 15,000 cases were recorded in 2024 — 17 times the levels seen across the entirety of 2023.
Eleven babies also died, making it the deadliest outbreak in a decade. All were under the age of three months.
While cases fell after May, levels of the infection ‘remained high’ throughout the rest of year, requiring close monitoring’, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses warned.
In a recent report about the surge, they also urged pregnant women to get vaccinated amid a slump in rates in the wake of the pandemic — a trend experts have previously blamed on growing jab scepticism.
Whooping cough is initially difficult to tell apart from a cold, with the first signs typically being a runny nose and sore throat.
But within a week, sufferers may develop coughing bouts which last minutes, struggle to breathe after coughing and make a ‘whoop’ sound between coughs.
Whooping cough cases surged to their highest level in more than two decades after a terrifying outbreak last year
Health officials warned that the infection is initially difficult to tell apart from a cold, as the first signs are a runny nose and sore throat. But around a week later, sufferers may develop coughing bouts that last minutes, struggle to breathe after coughing and make a ‘whoop’ sound between coughs. Other signs of whooping cough include bringing up a thick mucus that can cause vomiting and becoming red in the face
Other signs of pertussis, as it is medically known, include bringing up a thick mucus that can cause vomiting and becoming red in the face.
The UKHSA surveillance figures show there were 14,894 lab confirmed cases in 2024. By comparison 856 were logged in 2023.
Meanwhile, just 68 were recorded in 2022 and 49 in 2021. Pre-pandemic, the rate stood at 3,680 in 2019.
Cases peaked in May and June 2024, with 3,034 and 2,419 reported respectively — accounting for more than a third of the annual total.
More than half (58.8 per cent) of the total 14,894 were among those aged 15 and older, with almost a fifth (18.2 per cent) in children aged 10 to 14.
But rates remained high in babies under three months, who are most at risk as they are too young to be fully vaccinated.
Whooping cough is as contagious as measles.
UKHSA officials said they were desperately trying to ramp up vaccination rates and urged mothers-to-be to get jabbed.
Almost 15,000 cases were recorded in 2024 — 17 times the levels seen across the entirety of 2023. Eleven babies also died, making it the deadliest outbreak in a decade
Last year, new Mum Kerry Pearson told how her daughter Polly had a rattly cough and laboured breathing when she was just two weeks old. After four days coughing at home she suddenly turned blue and she was rushed to Darrent Valley Hospital in Dartford
Kerry Pearson urged pregnant women to take up the offer of the jab after her one-month old spent 10 days in a coma with whooping cough
It protects babies in the first few months of their life, when they are most vulnerable and before they can receive their own vaccines.
But just a quarter pregnant women have had the pertussis jab – offered between 16 and 32 weeks — in parts of London. Rates are below half in other parts of the capital and Birmingham.
‘Vaccination in pregnancy is key to passively protecting babies before they can be directly protected by the infant vaccine programme,’ the UKHSA said.
‘Pertussis vaccination is recommended in every pregnancy and women should normally receive their whooping cough vaccine around the time of their mid-pregnancy scan (usually 20 weeks) but can receive it from 16 weeks.’
Dozens of babies died each year before the pregnancy jab roll-out was introduced in England in 2012.
Since then, 32 fatalities have been recorded, as of the end of 2024, UKHSA figures show. All but six of their mothers were unvaccinated.
For suspected cases of whooping cough, GPs can prescribe one of four antibiotics: clarithromycin, erythromycin, azithromycin and co-trimoxazole.
Children generally need liquid versions of the medication, with the dose based on their weight, rather than standard pills.
Pregnant women are being urged to get the vaccine to protect their baby from catching the infection in the first few weeks of their life. Protection should last until they are old enough to get vaccinated themselves
While cases fell after May, levels of the infection ‘remained high’ throughout the rest of year, requiring close monitoring’, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses said
Although they may not reduce symptoms, antibiotics are vital as they stop patients from being infectious within 48 hours, helping to limit the spread of the bacterial infection.
However, if a person has been infected for longer, antibiotics will not speed up their recovery.
Whooping cough is a cyclical illness which typically peaks every five years. The last occurred in 2016, when almost 6,000 cases were confirmed.
Pre-pandemic, between 2,500 and 4,500 suspected cases were logged each year. This fell to around 500 during the coronavirus crisis.
Lockdowns stifled the spread of pathogens as people met less.
UKHSA bosses said the impact of the Covid pandemic also means there is reduced immunity in the population. Similar rebounds were seen for flu and RSV.
However, infection rates are still nowhere near the annual high of 170,000 logged in the 1940s.
Whooping cough is caused by the pertussis bacteria and is spread by coughing and sneezing.
Sufferers are infectious from around six days after cold-like symptoms begin to three weeks after their cough starts.
Whooping cough is less severe in older children and adults but can still cause sore ribs, a hernias, ear infections and urinary incontinence among these groups.
