Newborn spends 10 days in a coma after contracting whooping cough amid 'worst ... trends now

A mum has urged pregnant women to take the whooping cough jab after her newborn spent 10 days in a coma with the infection. 

Polly Deehy, from Dartford in Kent, was an otherwise healthy baby.

But in April, at just two weeks old she developed a rattly cough that left her struggling to breathe. 

She was rushed to hospital four days later by her terrified parents when she suddenly turned blue. 

After her condition worsened she was transferred to St Mary's Hospital in London where medics diagnosed her with pertussis, nicknamed the '100-day cough', and put her on a ventilator. 

It comes amid a worrying surge in cases that has already killed five babies. Experts have already warned the outbreak could be the biggest 'of the last 40 years'.

Yet as a few as a quarter of expectant mothers have had the pertussis jab – offered between 16 and 32 weeks — in parts of London. 

The jab protects babies in the first few months of their life, when they are most vulnerable and before they can receive their own vaccines. 

Polly's mother, Kerry Pearson, had a whooping cough vaccine when she was a child, and again during her pregnancy with her son, now seven.

But the 26-year-old has claimed she wasn't offered the vaccine when pregnant with Polly. 

She said: 'I knew nothing about whooping cough - it was just something from my grandparents' era.

'There's no treatment and no cure - we're just having to wait and it's unbearable.

'If I'd had the vaccine during my pregnancy I'd have passed on the antibodies in my breastmilk.

'The vaccine should be routinely offered with every pregnancy.

'I just want people to be aware - you should have the whooping cough vaccine when you're pregnant.

'If you're not offered it then please demand it.

'If you're an anti-vaxxer please reconsider — this is deadly to infants — it's not worth the risk.

'Nothing is worth going through what we're going through.'

Almost 3,000 whooping cough cases have already been recorded in 2024 — triple the levels seen across the entirety of 2023. The ever-growing outbreak is on track to be the biggest in over a decade.

Five babies have died so far this year. All were under the age of three months.

Vaccination rates have also slumped in the wake of the pandemic in a trend experts blame on growing jab scepticism.

Polly was born on March 26 after an uncomplicated labour and was returned home the very same day.

Just four days later, however, Ms Pearson, experienced chills, a headache and very rattly cough. 

By April 6, Polly had developed the same symptoms. 

After she was rushed to hospital by she was put on a paediatric ward on an oxygen-flow machine, which provided extra oxygen for her to breathe.

But she kept turning blue as her oxygen levels plummeted, and her breathing kept stopping.

On April 13, she was transferred to St Mary's Hospital in London and immediately put on a ventilator in an induced coma.

Tests for whooping cough - also known as pertussis - came back positive the next day.

Polly was slowly taken off the life-support and is now able to breathe independently.

She was woken from her coma on April 22, and came out of the intensive care unit on April 24.

Ms Pearson said: 'I've never been more relieved in my life. I watched them take the tubes out and turn all the machines off [as she recovered]. It was the best thing ever.

'The odds were not in her favour, but she's been very very lucky. There's no evidence of any lasting problems, but she might have a bit of weakness in her lungs — time will tell. 

She added: 'We caught it in time so she was in hospital, but if she'd had those blue episodes at home she'd have suffered lasting damage because of the lack of oxygen.

'We need to educate people about the vaccine and the symptoms.

'Whooping cough is dangerous to newborns and I want people to know what to look out for.'

Dozens of babies died each year before the pregnancy jab roll-out was introduced in England in 2012.

Only 21 fatalities were recorded between then and 2023. All but two of their mothers were unvaccinated. 

MailOnline understands of the five babies who have died in 2024 — all under the age of three months — two of their mothers were unvaccinated.

Less than two thirds (59.5 per cent) of expectant mothers in England took the pertussis vaccine, latest figures for 2023 show.

Uptake of the six-in-one jab — offered to babies in their first couple months of life — is also at an all-time low.

Just 91.8 per cent were fully vaccinated by their 1st birthday in 2022/23, according to NHS figures.

Babies are given three doses of the six-in-one jab at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age to protect against whooping cough and other serious diseases such as diphtheria and polio. 

A pre-school booster is offered after they turn three.

Experts are desperately trying to ramp up vaccination rates, pleading with mothers-to-be to get jabbed. 

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, consultant epidemiologist at UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: 'Vaccination remains the best defence against whooping cough and it is vital that pregnant women and young infants receive their vaccines at the right time.

'Whooping cough can affect people of all ages but for very young babies it can be extremely serious.' 

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health, University of Southampton, said: 'Whooping cough can and does kill babies.

'A high coverage of vaccination is vital in reducing transmission within populations.