Confusion over whooping cough jab

CONFUSION among NHS medics about who should be giving the whooping cough jab to pregnant women may have fuelled the recent outbreak that killed five babies, a leading doctor has warned.

Dr David Elliman, a consultant at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said “a lack of clarity as to who is responsible” for giving the vaccine to expectant mothers was the most probable reason behind low uptake.

He said the deaths of the five infants in the first three months of the year – the most in a decade – should “be a wake-up call” to the health service.

Despite vaccine hesitancy and fatigue being blamed for the falling uptake of other jabs including measles, mumps and rubella, Dr Elliman said pregnant women were not at fault for the low uptake and “there is no evidence” they are declining the jab.

“The NHS is going through a period of turmoil and all services are under considerable pressure. This has had a part to play,” he said.

“There is no evidence that the low uptake of whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy is due to women declining the vaccine. More likely is a lack of clarity as to who is responsible for giving it – primary care or maternity.”

It comes as a sixth baby is feared to have died from the disease, although her cause of death is yet to be confirmed by a coroner.

Evie-Grace Lewis died last week at just 15 days old after developing a cough and quickly deteriorating.

Her father Reece Lewis and partner Caitlin, who had been vaccinated, said she had been “perfectly fine” in the first few days of her life and it was only “around day seven when we really started to worry”.

Mr Lewis said: “In the last two to three days of her life was when it really went bad and she just deteriorated so quickly – it was unreal.

“Her first cough would be a normal cough, then she would go silent and you could hear she was so blocked up she couldn’t get the cough out and was struggling to breathe.”

The pair have set up a fundraising page for Birmingham Children’s Hospital whose staff “did everything they possibly could to pull Evie through”.

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

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

However, experts claim there is confusion

‘The deaths of five babies in the first three months of this year, should be a wake-up call to the NHS’

about whether the GP or antenatal team should be responsible for offering the jab.

The NHS website says the whooping cough vaccine, first made available for pregnant women in 2012, is available from the GP and some antenatal clinics, where expectant mothers go for checkups during pregnancy. It states: “You may be offered the vaccination at a routine antenatal appointment from around 16 weeks of your pregnancy. If you are more than 16 weeks pregnant and have not been offered the vaccine, talk to your midwife or GP and make an appointment to get vaccinated.”

It’s not clear where or if women are being made aware that it is one of the free vaccinations recommended during pregnancy, alongside flu and Covid jabs.

The latest figures show only 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. Take-up has also fallen across the rest of the country.

Dr Elliman said: “The rise in cases of measles and pertussis and the sad deaths of five babies in the first three months of this year, should be a wake-up call to the NHS.”

Medic says doubts over who should be vaccinated has fuelled the latest outbreak of the disease