A baby whose mother was not vaccinated against whooping cough has died after contracting the infection. The death is the first confirmed in the UK this year and coincides with rapidly declining vaccination rates.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious infection of the lungs that can be fatal for babies, who are at the highest risk of severe illness or death.
The child, thought to be under the age of one, was taken ill and died between March and June this year, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which is responsible for protecting the public from infectious diseases and other threats.
It follows the death of a child from measles at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool last month.
Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, the UKHSA deputy director, confirmed the child’s death saying: “Sadly, with a further infant death in the second quarter of 2025, we are again reminded how severe whooping cough can be for very young babies. Our thoughts and condolences are with the family who have so tragically lost their baby.”
The agency warned last week that vaccination rates for primary school children were at the lowest levels for 15 years. Almost one in five children starting primary school this week in England are not fully protected from diseases including whooping cough, polio, tetanus and diphtheria.
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From next year the NHS will begin vaccinating all babies against chickenpox, or varicella, by combining it with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in a new MMRV. Uptake of both doses of the MMR jab has fallen to its lowest since 2009-10, with only 83.7 per cent of five-year-olds fully protected.
In England childhood vaccination rates have dropped to their lowest levels in nearly a decade, and the UK is below the World Health Organisation’s 95 per cent threshold for herd immunity across all five vaccines. Last year 11 children in England died after an outbreak of whooping cough.
Vaccine rates among pregnant women for the infection reached a peak of 76 per cent in 2016 but fell to 59 per cent by March last year. Since the deaths last year, vaccination rates among mothers recovered to 73 per cent, but are still below the peak.
According to the latest data there were 502 cases of whooping cough reported between January and June this year. Of these, eight included infants aged under three-months-old, who are most at risk of complications.
The infection gets its name from the “whoop” sound made by babies and children as they gasp for breath between severe coughing fits caused by bacteria infecting their airways and lungs.
Whooping cough can be spread through droplets in the air and sneezing. Sufferers can experience serious complications including pneumonia, brain damage and death as their heart and lungs fail.
The best way to guard against the infection in a newborn is to vaccinate pregnant women because they can pass on the immunity to their baby before they are born. The vaccine is 91 per cent effective.
Since maternal vaccination was launched in October 2012, there have been 33 deaths in babies with confirmed whooping cough. Of the infants who died, 27 had mothers who were not vaccinated during pregnancy. This includes the child who died earlier this year.
Amirthalingam said: “Vaccination is the best defence against whooping cough and it is vital that pregnant women and young infants receive their vaccines at the right time, ideally between 20 and 32 weeks. This passes protection to their baby in the womb so that they are protected from birth.”
She said the recent increase in vaccination rates showed mothers were taking action to protect their babies.
