Five babies have died of the highly contagious disease, with confirmed cases this year more than three times the total for the whole of 2023.
Pharmacists are warning of shortages of crucial whooping cough antibiotics amid the biggest outbreak in more than a decade.
But Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, said chemists were having to turn parents away because a surge in demand for antibiotics had caused pharmacies to run out of stock For suspected cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, GPs can prescribe one of four antibiotics: clarithromycin, erythromycin, azithromycin and co-trimoxazole. While they may not relieve symptoms, they prevent the infection spreading further and patients are no longer infectious 48 hours later.
And sometimes babies don't cough or whoop as older kids do but may show signs of difficulties breathing. People are most contagious at the earliest stages and for up to about two weeks after the cough begins.More than 2,700 whooping cough cases have been reported across the country so far in 2024, with 1,319 cases reported in March alone, according to the UKHSA.Cases of whooping cough peak every four or so years but the pandemic saw a dramatic fall in the incidence of whooping cough and other respiratory infections as a result of reduced mixing of people.
As with Covid jabs, even if they do not stop your child getting the illness, the likelihood is that it will be less severe.
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