As whooping cough rates rise, we urgently need to increase maternal vaccination rates

The UK is experiencing a sharp increase in rates of whooping cough (pertussis), with confirmed cases in England climbing rapidly from 858 in 2023 to reach 2793 in just the first three months of 2024.1 In that period alone, whooping cough claimed the lives of five infants—a tragic and preventable outcome.1 The rise in cases may reflect the cyclical nature of pertussis,2 but it also underscores a worrying decline in vaccine uptake during pregnancy.3 We urgently need to increase maternal vaccination rates and protect newborns who are too young to be vaccinated.Maternal vaccination is 97% effective against infant death from pertussis.45 Despite these benefits, pertussis vaccination coverage in pregnancy has fallen from 70% in September 2017 to just 58% in September 2023.6 Pertussis vaccine uptake is even lower in London, with coverage of only 36% from October to December 2023.6 Historically, pertussis vaccination uptake has been significantly lower in England’s…
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