The bacteria can silently lurk inside the body for 21 days, meaning infected Brits may be unknowingly transmitting the bug, which is just as contagious as measles.
READ MORE:. ***Children infected with whooping cough might not develop symptoms for up to three weeks, experts warned today.
Health officials warned that the infection is initially difficult to tell apart from a cold, as the first signs are a runny nose and sore throat. But around a week later, sufferers may develop coughing bouts that last minutes, struggle to breathe after coughing and make a 'whoop' sound between coughs.
However, if a person has been infected for longer, antibiotics will not speed up their recovery, experts say. 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. 'It was a journey of discovery, I realised that the vaccine you have as a child goes off after about ten years.She added: 'There is a lack of knowledge about how deadly and dangerous whooping cough can be.
'So GPs like me see a lot of people in their 30s and 40s and 50s who were vaccinated actually but they're no longer immune.' The infection can initially be difficult to tell apart from a cold, with the first signs typically being a runny nose and sore throat. Less than two thirds of expectant mothers in England took the pertussis vaccine, latest figures for 2023 show.
The infection is generally milder in teenagers and adults than in babies and children, especially those who have been vaccinated.Whooping cough is very contagious and can be spread through tiny drops of fluid from an infected person's nose or mouth. Professor Andrew Preston from the University of Bath’s Milner Centre for Evolution, said cases have been rising since the end of restrictions and a peak year had been expected to arise soon.
As well as reducing overall severity, people who are vaccinated are likely to suffer from the cough for a shorter period.Yes, although treatment depends on age and how long it has been since catching the infection.
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