Urgent 100-day cough warning after baby dies of highly contagious infection in the UK

A doctor has issued an urgent warning amid a worrying surge in a potentially deadly illness that has already claimed the life of a baby in the UK. There has been a significant uptick in cases of the 100-day cough, better known as whooping cough, with experts concerned this trend will continue.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and breathing tubes. It can lead to serious breathing difficulties and even seizures and pneumonia if not caught quickly.

Babies and young children are particularly vulnerable to the infection, which is why the NHS offers a vaccine at a young age, as well as to pregnant mothers. However, a decline in vaccine uptake has been followed by a rise in cases.

Since January this year, there have already been 8,015 doctor notifications and 2,041 laboratory-confirmed cases of whooping cough. This is a huge increase, compared to just 207 and 30 respectively last year for the same period.

And there were 52 cases of the infection in babies aged under three months in January and February this year, compared to only 48 cases for the whole of last year.

Whooping cough

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also reported the death of one baby in the last three months of 2023. However, some doctors believe further deaths aren’t yet showing in official figures, according to Doctor Saleyha Ahsan writing for the Mail Online.

Some experts are also saying the overall figures may be a significant underestimate, as people with mild disease may not see a doctor.

As reported by the Mail Online, Dr Ronny Cheung, a consultant paediatrician from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “There’s no doubt we’ve been seeing quite a lot more of it on the wards and A&E in recent times. My suspicion is we’re probably still underestimating the true prevalence at the moment.”

Dr Liz Whittaker, a paediatric consultant and honorary clinical senior lecturer in the department of infectious disease at Imperial College London, explained the severe risk to babies.

“The mortality is one death in every 100 in the under three months category,” she said. “We don’t see this in other age groups.

Sick child, toddler boy lying in bed with a fever, having breakfast, resting at home

“As well as coughing, which is quite severe, they can stop breathing.” Their white blood cells also increase, sometimes reaching very high levels, “causing the blood vessels to clog up, and causing cardiac failure”, Dr Whittaker added.

Babies under three months are most at risk because they’re too young to be vaccinated.

The first dose of the jab is normally given at two months, but pregnant women are offered the vaccine between 16 and 32 weeks as the antibodies pass across the placenta and protect the baby in the first few months of life.

Before this vaccination programme was introduced dozens of babies used to die every year in the UK.

Dr Cheung said: “Most of our admissions are still in the pre-immunisation under-three-month group. I’ve seen these babies in my practice where they come with coughing bouts, apnoea [pauses in breathing] or looking very dusky or desaturating [with low oxygen levels], and that’s very worrying.”

Pregnant woman getting vaccinated

Over the past decade the number of two-year-olds who have had the full round of vaccinations has dropped.

In September 2023 the number of two-year-olds who’d completed the schedule of routine six-in-one vaccinations (at eight weeks, three months and four months), which includes protection against whooping cough, was 92.9 percent; in 2014 it was 96.3 percent.

The uptake of the vaccine among pregnant women in the UK has also fallen – from 74.7 percent in 2017 to just 59.5 percent in 2023.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, commented: “We would urge all parents to check that their children’s vaccinations – and their own – are up to date.”

Symptoms to spot

According to the NHS, the first symptoms of whooping cough to look for are similar to those of a cold.

These include a runny nose, red and watery eyes, a sore throat, and a slightly raised temperature.

Intense coughing bouts start about a week later. The bouts usually last a few minutes at a time and tend to be more common at night.

This coughing often brings up thick mucus and may be followed by vomiting. Between coughs, you or your child may gasp for breath – this may cause a “whoop” sound, although not everyone has this.

The strain of coughing can cause the face to become very red, and there may be some slight bleeding under the skin or in the eyes.

Young children can sometimes briefly turn blue (cyanosis) if they have trouble breathing – this often looks worse than it is and their breathing should start again quickly.

If your child has symptoms of whooping cough you should call 111 or book an urgent GP appointment.

The NHS advises going to A&E or calling 999 if:

• Your or your child’s lips, tongue, face or skin suddenly turn blue or grey (on black or brown skin this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet)
• You or your child are finding it hard to breathe properly (shallow breathing)
• You or your child have chest pain that’s worse when breathing or coughing – this could be a sign of pneumonia
• Your child is having seizures (fits).