Whooping Cough: Vaccine Expert 'Very Worried' By Whooping Cough Deaths

[The_DADDY]

A leading vaccine expert says he is "very worried" by the large increase in whooping cough cases which have led to the deaths of five babies in England this year.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, head of the UK's vaccine committee, said the youngest were at greatest risk and more pregnant women should be vaccinated.

 

If the disease continues to spread, more babies will die, he warned.

The whooping cough vaccine is offered to babies and pre-school children.

 

The "only thing we can actually do" about rising cases of whooping cough is to ensure higher vaccination rates, Prof Pollard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Very important - for this very vulnerable group, those who are too young to be vaccinated - is the vaccination rate in pregnant women," he added.

 

"Worryingly, those have fallen from a peak of about 75% of women being vaccinated during pregnancy to under 60% today, and that's what puts these very young infants at particular risk."

 

London has particularly low vaccination rates of 36.8%.

Why are cases rising?

UK health officials say there have been 1,319 cases of whooping cough in England in March, up from 900 in February, giving a total of nearly 2,800 so far this year.

 

The bacterial infection, which can develop into prolonged bouts of coughing, is a cyclical disease, with peaks seen every three to five years.

The last peak year came in 2016, when there were nearly 6,000 cases in England.

 

Half of cases seen so far this year have been in the under-15s, with the highest rates in babies under three months, who are most at risk. The five babies who died this year - the first deaths since 2019 - were all under three months old.

 

"The troubling thing is that if we continue to have high rates of spread and low rates of vaccination, there will be more babies severely affected, and sadly there will be more deaths," Prof Pollard said.

 

I thought ailments like this were a thing of the past?

Your thoughts?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68990222.amp

[Longcol]

10 minutes ago, The_DADDY said:

 

I thought ailments like this were a thing of the past?

 

No - like measles it has never gone away.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/whooping-cough-cases-continue-to-rise#:~:text=All babies are given three,at 3 years 4 months.

 

I wonder if  it's due to the number of folk who are anti-vaccine?

[The_DADDY]

3 minutes ago, Longcol said:

No - like measles it has never gone away.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/whooping-cough-cases-continue-to-rise#:~:text=All babies are given three,at 3 years 4 months.

 

I wonder if  it's due to the number of folk who are anti-vaccine?

My bold.

Possibly. We've had a huge influx of migrants both legal and illegal over the years. Maybe their countries of origin don't offer vaccines like we do here so migrants are distrustful of such things? 

It would be interesting to know the ethnic backgrounds of the poor kids who died. 

 

[Longcol]

2 minutes ago, The_DADDY said:

My bold.

Possibly. We've had a huge influx of migrants both legal and illegal over the years. Maybe their countries of origin don't offer vaccines like we do here so migrants are distrustful of such things? 

It would be interesting to know the ethnic backgrounds of the poor kids who died. 

 

We've also had a huge number of people who've lived here for yonks who are anti vaccine. Diseases / viruses don't discriminate.

[hackey lad]

32 minutes ago, The_DADDY said:

A leading vaccine expert says he is "very worried" by the large increase in whooping cough cases which have led to the deaths of five babies in England this year.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, head of the UK's vaccine committee, said the youngest were at greatest risk and more pregnant women should be vaccinated.

 

If the disease continues to spread, more babies will die, he warned.

The whooping cough vaccine is offered to babies and pre-school children.

 

The "only thing we can actually do" about rising cases of whooping cough is to ensure higher vaccination rates, Prof Pollard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Very important - for this very vulnerable group, those who are too young to be vaccinated - is the vaccination rate in pregnant women," he added.

 

"Worryingly, those have fallen from a peak of about 75% of women being vaccinated during pregnancy to under 60% today, and that's what puts these very young infants at particular risk."

 

London has particularly low vaccination rates of 36.8%.

Why are cases rising?

UK health officials say there have been 1,319 cases of whooping cough in England in March, up from 900 in February, giving a total of nearly 2,800 so far this year.

 

The bacterial infection, which can develop into prolonged bouts of coughing, is a cyclical disease, with peaks seen every three to five years.

The last peak year came in 2016, when there were nearly 6,000 cases in England.

 

Half of cases seen so far this year have been in the under-15s, with the highest rates in babies under three months, who are most at risk. The five babies who died this year - the first deaths since 2019 - were all under three months old.

 

"The troubling thing is that if we continue to have high rates of spread and low rates of vaccination, there will be more babies severely affected, and sadly there will be more deaths," Prof Pollard said.

 

I thought ailments like this were a thing of the past?

Your thoughts?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68990222.amp

I would get into trouble for saying what I think .

[hackey lad]

8 minutes ago, The_DADDY said:

My bold.

Possibly. We've had a huge influx of migrants both legal and illegal over the years. Maybe their countries of origin don't offer vaccines like we do here so migrants are distrustful of such things? 

It would be interesting to know the ethnic backgrounds of the poor kids who died. 

 

And that is a big part of it 

[RJRB]

38 minutes ago, Longcol said:

We've also had a huge number of people who've lived here for yonks who are anti vaccine. Diseases / viruses don't discriminate.

Plus those who spread unsubstantiated claims on the dangers of vaccines via social media leading to a fall off in the take up of vaccines such as MMR. 

 

[rogets]

Problem with this debate is that only one side are allowed to put their views forward.

 

For a proper debate you would need to return to the idea of free speech, so all opinions being allowed, including those you don't agree with

[Annie Bynnol]

    Vaccination levels in the population fluctuate with ignorance spread by the ignorant and opportunists not immigration.

     Example one- Andrew Wakefield and social media 

     Example two- more than thirty vaccinations are given to children over 16 years covering more than a dozen diseases the vast majority of which are endemic here. 

     Example three -Vaccine Preventable Diseases  vaccination programmes are almost global.

2 hours ago, rogets said:

Problem with this debate is that only one side are allowed to put their views forward.

 

For a proper debate you would need to return to the idea of free speech, so all opinions being allowed, including those you don't agree with

Sides? What sides? This is a medical issue not a a game of two sides.

What debate? The only debate I can see here is how serious UK medical issue is being turned into a  'scarry immigrant' story.

      

Edited May 11 by Annie Bynnol

[Slighty batty]

When I was a kid the little girl next door to us caught whooping cough. My bedroom was next to hers and the partition wall was very thin, I heard every single cough.  I can’t describe how awful it was, it seemed to go just on and on, all night every night for what seemed like ages to me. Bad enough listening to someone else’s kid who’s ill, but think how distressing it must be if it’s your own toddler and you put them in that way because you wouldn’t have them vaccinated.