‘More babies could die from whooping cough’

MORE babies will die from whooping cough unless vaccination rates go up to slow the spread of the infection, a leading expert has warned.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, consultant paediatrician and chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the UK Government, said Covid lockdowns may have impacted on the rise in cases, particularly in older children and adults.

But he said the “biggest issue” is actually low vaccination rates, particularly among pregnant women.

Figures for England show 59.3% of pregnant women between October to December 2023 were vaccinated against whooping cough, almost 16% down on the same quarter in 2016-17.

London has particularly low rates, at 36.8%.

The vaccine in pregnancy helps bridge the immunity gap from when babies are born until they themselves can be vaccinated.

Data for 2022-23 shows 91.8% of children have had their whooping cough vaccines by their first birthday, with experts saying this figure also needs to be higher.

Sir Andrew told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that under-vaccination is putting “the most vulnerable – those who are too young to have been vaccinated – at greatest risk”.

He said the “only thing we can actually do” about rising cases is to ensure higher vaccination rates.

He added: “But very importantly, for this very vulnerable group, those who are too young to be vaccinated, is the vaccination rates in pregnant women.

“Very worryingly, those have fallen from a peak of about 75% of women being vaccinated during pregnancy to under 60% today, and that's what puts these very young infants at particular risk.”

He said for most of the last decade there have not been many cases of whooping cough “because we're all protected by the high vaccination rates”.