Baby dies of whooping cough amid rapidly plummeting vaccination rates

A baby has become the first person to die after contracting whooping cough in England this year amid rapidly plummeting vaccination rates.

The child, whose mother was not vaccinated against the infection, was believed to have been under the age of one and died some time after falling ill between March and June.

Official NHS guidance states that whooping cough, or pertussis, 'spreads very easily' and that it is 'important for babies, children and anyone who is pregnant to get vaccinated against it'.

The numbers of 'laboratory confirmed cases' of whooping cough dramatically shot up from 856 in 2023 to 14,894 between January and December last year.

Some 11 infants who were infected in 2024 sadly lost their lives, sparking concerns over the low vaccination rates.

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) deputy director, confirmed this year's death.

'Our thoughts and condolences are with the family who have so tragically lost their baby', she told The Times.

The agency, which is responsible for protecting the public from infectious diseases, has warned that the vaccination rates for primary school pupils were at their lowest levels since 2010.

Despite millions of children preparing to return to primary school classrooms across England this week, only 20 per cent of them are vaccinated against whooping cough.

Such a low intake of vaccines in English children has seen the UK fall below the World Health Organisation's 95 per cent threshold for herd immunity.

Just 73 per cent of pregnant women are vaccinated against whooping cough, however this is a marked improvement to the 59 per cent recorded in March last year.

There have been 502 recorded cases of the infection this year, according to the latest data. Eight of these included babies under three-months-old.

Dr Amirthalingam added: 'Vaccination is the best defence against whooping cough and it is vital that pregnant women and young infants receive their vaccines at the right time, ideally between 20 and 32 weeks.

'This passes protection to their baby in the womb so that they are protected from birth.'

Parents are urged to take notice if their children begin suffering with 'coughing bouts that last for a few minutes and are worse at night' on official NHS guidance.

The health service say the first signs of whooping cough, which gets its name from the gasp for breath between bouts, are similar to a cold - though a high temperature is typically uncommon.

The latest tragedy comes just one month after a child died at Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital after contracting measles.

The child is believed to be the second child in England to die in the past five years with the infection.

As of next year, the NHS will roll out a plan to safeguard babies against chickenpox by combining it a vaccination with the existing one for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

The uptake in vaccinations of MMR have also dropped to their lowest levels in more than 15 years, with only 83.7 per cent of five-year-olds currently protected.

The whooping cough vaccine is routinely given as part of the six-in-one vaccine for babies at eight, 12 and 16 weeks, as well as the four-in-one pre-school booster.