Whooping cough hotspots are revealed in interactive map as 15-day-old girl dies ... trends now
Another newborn baby is feared to have died from whooping cough, MailOnline can reveal today amid growing fears the outbreak could be the worst in 40 years.
Nearly 3,000 cases of pertussis, or the 100-day cough, have already been recorded in 2024 — treble levels seen across the entirety of 2023. Nottingham, parts of Wales, Leeds and Sheffield appear to be the hotspots.
Only three of 330-plus districts across England and Wales have yet to report any suspected cases this year, MailOnline analysis reveals.
Whooping cough – an illness as contagious as measles – killed five babies in the first quarter of 2024. All were under the age of three months.
Another victim, not yet included in the official toll, is Evie-Grace Lewis, who died last week at just 15 days old after catching the infection. Heartbroken parents Reece and Caitlin say she 'deteriorated so quickly'.
Evie-Grace's death is not yet proven to be caused by the illness.
But if a coroner rules whooping cough was to blame, as her parents suspect, it means six babies will have died in the current outbreak, making it the deadliest in a decade.
Another victim, not yet included in the official toll, is Evie-Grace Lewis, who died last week at just 15 days old after catching the infection. Heartbroken parents Reece and Caitlin say she 'deteriorated so quickly'
Reece Lewis, Evie-Grace's father, told ITV News that his partner, Caitlin, 'had to have the vaccine during her pregnancy', adding: 'But I didn't know what it is or what it was for.' Pictured, Evie-Grace's parents, Caitlin and Reece
Dozens of newborns used to die from the illness every year before pregnant women were routinely offered jabs in 2012.
One of the country's most respected paediatricians today warned 'there will be more deaths'.
Sir Andrew Pollard, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, a Government advisory panel, claimed the 'only thing we can actually do' is drastically vaccination rates.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses have blamed the current outbreak on a steady decline in the uptake of vaccines among expectant mums.
Experts say this is due to a mixture of vaccine hesitancy in the wake of Covid as well as a lack of awareness. The cancellation of many 'non essential' services during the pandemic and the consequence of lockdowns on immunity are also thought to have played a role.
The jab in pregnancy, offered between 16 and 32 weeks, protects babies in the first few months of their life, when they are most vulnerable and before they can receive their own vaccines.
Evie-Grace's death is not yet proven to be caused by the illness. But if a coroner rules whooping cough was to blame, as her parents suspect, it means six babies will have died in the current outbreak, making it the deadliest in a decade
Polly Deehy, from Dartford, Kent, was an otherwise healthy baby until her terrifying ordeal. 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 parents when she suddenly turned blue, her mother Kerry Pearson (pictured) revealed
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
Just a quarter of expectant mothers have had the pertussis jab in some boroughs of London. Rates are below half in other parts of the capital and Birmingham.
Uptake of the six-in-one jab – offered to babies in the first four months of life – are also at an all-time low.
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.
Only 21 fatalities were logged between then and 2023. All but two of their mothers were unvaccinated.
MailOnline understands of the six babies known to have died of whooping cough in 2024, just two of their mothers were unvaccinated.
Reece Lewis, Evie-Grace's father, told ITV News that his partner, Caitlin, 'had to have the vaccine during her pregnancy', adding: 'But I didn't know what it is or what it was for.'
He admitted that he 'didn't really know anything' about whooping cough, a bacterial infection that can silently lurk inside the body for 21 days.
Reece, who with Caitlin is now fundraising for Birmingham Children's Hospital where Evie-Grace was treated, said said she had been 'perfectly fine' in the first few days of her life.
It was only 'around day seven when we really started to worry'.
He told ITV: 'In the last two to three days of her life was when it really went bad and she just deteriorated so quickly – it was unreal.
'Her first cough would be a normal cough, then she would go silent and you could hear she was so blocked up she couldn't get the cough out and was struggling to breathe.'
The cause of Evie-Grace's death is being investigated by a coroner.
MailOnline has created an interactive map revealing the number of suspected cases detected in each local authority across England and Wales in 2024.
Nationwide, more than 8,000 whooping cough cases have been recorded since the start of the year.
Yet there is still a huge disparity in rates across the country, with Nottingham logging the most (180).
It was followed by the Vale of Glamorgan (130), Cardiff (124) and Swansea (121), all of which are in Wales.
Similarly high figures were seen in Leeds (111), Sheffield (110) and Hart (98).
In comparison, three authorities — the City of London, Torridge and the Isles of Scilly — haven't logged a single case so far.
Experts have already warned the epidemic 'may well tragically rise'.
Dr Saleyha Ahsan, an A&E doctor in London, told MailOnline: 'There is, inevitably, a lag between deaths and official reported figures.
'So already, by mid-May, the number of deaths is thought to be higher.
'And with paediatric intensive care units now on "surge capacity" because of both pertussis and measles, that number may well, tragically, rise.'
In the 1980s, the government published terrifying adverts telling parents whooping cough can cause vomiting, weight loss, brain damage and death in children.
Dr Ahsan said the Department of Health should re-publicise the deadly dangers of the illness to boost vaccine uptake.
Dr David Elliman, a consultant in community child health at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, today also said: 'The rise in cases of measles and pertussis and the sad deaths in the first three months of this year, should be a wakeup call to the NHS.'
Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health based at the University of Southampton, today said: 'Whooping cough can and does kill babies.
'A high coverage of vaccination is vital in reducing transmission within populations.
'Vaccine uptake in young children and for expectant mothers during pregnancy is so important. The vaccine is safe, and extremely effective.
'As a disease, whooping cough is as infectious as measles, and more infectious than Covid.
'This is, in part, due to a long period where the infected individual can be infectious, able to transmit the bacteria to others.
The government has been urged to publicise the deadly danger of whooping cough to boost vaccine uptake, as it did in the 1980s and '90s
