Whooping cough

Also called Pertussis, The hundred day cough

A bacterial infection that is a nuisance in adults and lethal in babies. The vaccine in pregnancy is what protects them.

What it is

Whooping cough is caused by a bacterium and it runs in cycles, with peaks every three to five years. The UK saw a substantial resurgence in 2024, with infant deaths.

In an older child or adult it is a prolonged, exhausting cough that can last three months, hence the name the hundred day cough. Unpleasant, and rarely dangerous.

In a baby under six months it is entirely different. Babies may not whoop at all; they may simply stop breathing. Most infant deaths from whooping cough are in babies too young to have been vaccinated themselves.

Which is why the vaccine offered in pregnancy, between 16 and 32 weeks, matters so much. It passes antibodies to the baby and is around 90% effective at preventing whooping cough in the first weeks of life. Uptake has fallen, and that fall is directly connected to the deaths.

Signs you might notice

First a week or two of ordinary cold symptoms: runny nose, mild cough, sometimes a slight fever.

Then bouts of intense coughing, often worse at night, sometimes ending in vomiting, and sometimes with the characteristic whoop as breath is drawn in.

Between bouts, the person often seems well, which misleads people.

In babies: pauses in breathing, going blue, feeding poorly, and possibly no cough at all. Any of that is an emergency.

The cough continues for weeks after the infection has cleared and antibiotics no longer help it.

How it can affect day-to-day life

Diagnosis is often late because the first fortnight looks like a cold, and by the time the coughing bouts start, antibiotics no longer change the illness, only the infectiousness.

Adults with a prolonged cough are a major source of infection for babies, and they rarely consider whooping cough because they were vaccinated decades ago. Protection wanes.

Exclusion is 48 hours after starting antibiotics, or 21 days from the start of the cough if untreated.

Supporting someone well

Take the pregnancy vaccine, every pregnancy, between 16 and 32 weeks. This is the single most protective action for a newborn.

Keep the childhood immunisation schedule on time. The first dose at eight weeks is earlier than many parents expect for a reason.

Keep anybody with a prolonged cough away from newborns.

Consider whooping cough in any adult with a cough lasting over three weeks, particularly a paroxysmal one, and especially if they are around babies.

For a baby with any pause in breathing, colour change, or feeding difficulty, call 999.

Report cases; whooping cough is notifiable and close contacts, especially pregnant women and babies, may need preventive antibiotics.

Where to get help

A GP can test and treat, and it is notifiable.

999 for any baby with breathing pauses, colour change or difficulty feeding.

Contact a midwife or GP for the pregnancy vaccine.