Pregnant women and parents urged to make sure their children are protected against whooping cough

Pregnant women and parents are being urged to ensure that they and their children receive the free whooping cough vaccination.

Whooping cough (also known as Pertussis) is a bacterial infection of the lungs and airways. It spreads very easily through coughing and sneezing and can sometimes cause serious health problems, especially in young babies.

The number of whooping cough cases have risen sharply in recent months, with Wakefield having over 70 known cases in the last five months. 

Babies who are too young to start their vaccinations are at greatest risk.

Young babies with whooping cough often become very unwell and most will need hospital care. Whooping cough can be serious and sadly babies can die from the infection.

Vaccination is the best protection against whooping cough. The whooping cough vaccine is given as part of the routine childhood vaccination plan in the UK at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age, with another vaccination offered before children start going to school. 

Pregnant women can help protect their babies by getting vaccinated. When you have the whooping cough vaccination in pregnancy, your body produces antibodies to protect against whooping cough. These antibodies pass to your baby through the placenta giving them high levels of protection until they're able to have their own whooping cough vaccination from 8 weeks old.

The best time to get vaccinated to protect your baby is between 20 to 32 weeks of pregnancy. The vaccine is usually offered to women after their 20-week scan. Vaccines can be given from as early as 16 weeks and women remain eligible after 32 weeks until they give birth. Mums-to-be can contact their midwife or GP surgery if they have reached week 20 of their pregnancy and are unsure if they have had the vaccine.

Women can also receive the vaccine after delivery, for up to 8 weeks until their baby is old enough to get their first dose. This can help protect the mother from whooping cough, reducing the chance that their baby will be exposed to the infection.

Whooping cough vaccine has been offered to pregnant women in the UK since October 2012. Vaccination of pregnant women has been shown to be around 90% effective in preventing whooping cough cases and hospital admissions in young babies and over 90% effective at preventing baby deaths.

For more information about whooping cough and the vaccine, please visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/whooping-cough/