Be alert

Parents warned to stay on guard as deadly whooping cough outbreak kills FIVE babies

- MARTIN BAGOT

FAMILIES were last night urged to get whooping cough jabs if not already protected after the deaths of five babies from the disease sparked fears of further tragedies.

Experts are warning we could be facing the biggest outbreak in 40 years unless action is urgently taken.

Parents were also told to look out for symptoms in children, including a runny nose, sore throat and a "whooping" noise when coughing and seek urgent medical help.

The UK Health Security Agency reported 1,319 cases in England during March, which was up from 918 in February and 556 in January.

There were just 858 cases of the "100-day cough", which can also cause brain damage, in the whole of last year.

A fall in vaccinations has been blamed for a national outbreak since the turn of the year along with weakened immunity due to a lack of social mixing in lockdowns.

Latest data shows uptake of the vaccine offered to all pregnant women to protect newborns plummeted from more than 70% in 2017 to 58% last year.

PREVENTABLE

The number of two-year-olds who had routine six-in-one jabs, which includes whooping cough protection, fell from 96.3% in 2014 to 92.9% in 2023.

The babies who died of the disease, officially called pertussis, were all under three months old and they fell ill in the first three months of this year.