LONDON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Whooping cough is potentially fatal to babies who become infected, many British experts have warned amid what may be the country's biggest outbreak of the disease in decades. Five deaths were reported among infants who developed the disease in England between January and March.
According to the latest data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), cases of whooping cough continue to increase, with 1,319 confirmed in March. This brings the total number of confirmed cases during the first quarter of 2024 to 2,793.
However, the true number of cases is likely to be much higher, since mild cases of whooping cough are easily confused with other respiratory illnesses in the early stages of infection, said The Guardian newspaper.
Experts are warning that the United Kingdom (UK) could be facing its biggest outbreak in 40 years unless urgent action is taken. Parents were also urged to look out for symptoms in their children, including a runny nose, sore throat and a "whooping" noise when coughing, and to seek medical help if these occur.
"As a disease, whooping cough is as infectious as measles, and more infectious than COVID-19," said Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton. The new data illustrates the seriousness of the disease, he said, given that it can be fatal for babies.
"Whooping cough can have a very long infectious period of around 2-3 weeks, i.e. the period of time when an infected individual is able to transmit the bacteria to others," he said, providing "plenty of opportunities for people to mix, transmission to occur, and for there to be an infection of a vulnerable individual, such as a baby."
Known as pertussis, or the "100-day cough," the infection is a cyclical disease which peaks every three to five years. The last cyclical increase occurred in 2016.
"What we are currently seeing is very high case numbers, certainly higher than the 2016 peak, based on the projections so far in the first three months, and very much in line - and potentially even higher - than what we saw during our 2012 peak year, particularly in very young babies," Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, a consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, told The Guardian.
According to UKHSA, the number of confirmed cases in infants under 3 months, who are at most risk of severe disease and too young to be fully vaccinated, peaked at 407 cases in the earlier 2012 outbreak. This number then fell after the introduction of maternal vaccination.
Half of the cases so far this year have been among the under-15s, with the highest rates in babies under three months old. The five babies who died this year were all under three months old. These are the first deaths since 2019.
Other parts of the UK and Europe are also seeing a rising number of cases.
Vaccination remains the best defense. In the UK, this is given through a "six-in-one" combined jab at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age, which also protects against other diseases such as tetanus and polio. This is followed by a pre-school booster at age three.
However, "a drop in vaccination coverage will be a key factor contributing to this rise in cases of whooping cough," said Dr Head. ■
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2024-05-10 16:51:00Z
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