Could YOUR child have whooping cough? Graphic reveals symptoms to look out for - and how to tell the '100-day cough' apart from a cold
- Health officials warn the infection is initially difficult to tell apart from a cold
- READ MORE: Five newborn babies die in spiralling whooping cough outbreak
Britons were today warned to watch out for whooping cough symptoms amid a worrying spike in cases that has seen five babies die.
Almost 3,000 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.
Health chiefs say Covid lockdowns have fuelled England's unprecedented epidemic of the infection, nicknamed the '100-day cough'.
Vaccination rates have also slumped in the wake of the pandemic in a trend experts blame on growing jab scepticism.
But what are the tell-tale signs of whooping cough? How can you treat it? And how does it differ from a cold?
Here MailOnline explains everything you need to know about the infection.
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. Other signs of whooping cough include bringing up a thick mucus that can cause vomiting and becoming red in the face
What is whooping cough?
Known medically as pertussis, the bacterial chest infection commonly progresses through three stages — with the first largely similar to the common cold.
Sufferers can then be left with a chronic cough that remains for several weeks.
Experts recommend anyone with a persistent cough which has lasted for more than two weeks should see a doctor.
Dr Safia Debar, executive health GP at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London, said: 'Particularly if you also have symptoms like lethargy and fever, or you've been in contact with somebody with whooping cough, then definitely seek medical attention.'
Meanwhile, Dr Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said: 'Whooping cough can have a very long infectious period of around two to three weeks — the period of time when an infected individual is able to transmit the bacteria onto others.
'Thus, there may be plenty of opportunities for people to mix, transmission to occur, and for there to be an infection of a vulnerable individual, such as a baby.'
What are the symptoms?
Health officials warned the infection is initially difficult to tell apart from a cold, with the first signs typically being a runny nose and sore throat.
But around a week later, sufferers may develop coughing bouts which last minutes, struggle to breathe after coughing and make a 'whoop' sound between coughs.
Other signs of pertussis, as it is medically known, include bringing up a thick mucus that can cause vomiting.
Young children may turn blue or grey due to difficulty breathing while adults might become red in the face.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses received 1,319 lab-confirmed reports of cases in England in March alone. It marks a 44-fold rise on the 30 logged over the same month in 2023 and comes after MailOnline earlier this year revealed that cases of the '100 day cough' were at a decade high
Over half (50.8 per cent) were among those aged 15 and older, with more than a quarter (28.6 per cent) in children aged 10 to 14. But the rates of whooping cough remained highest in babies under three months, UKHSA noted, with 108 cases
Most children under six months require hospitalisation after contracting whooping cough due to the risks of brain swelling and convulsions.
Between one to three per cent of those under three months die from the illness.
In teenagers and adults, serious cases of whooping cough can lead to pneumonia, fainting and even rib fractures due to the intensity of the coughing fits.
How do you treat whooping cough?
Doctors will typically do a throat swab to see whether someone is infected with the Bordetella pertussis bacterium.
They are able to dish out antibiotics as treatment if the whooping cough is detected within three weeks.
However, if a person has been infected for longer, antibiotics will not speed up their recovery.
Medics recommend focusing on managing symptoms by getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated, and using a cool mist humidifier to ease the cough.
Painkillers such as ibuprofen or paracetamol can also help with discomfort.
Can it be prevented?
Because whooping cough is so infectious, experts recommend self-isolating for at least five days while antibiotic treatment kicks in, if you suspect you have the illness.
The most effective preventable measure, however, is to get vaccinated.
The 6-in-1 vaccine, given to babies at eight, 12 and 16 weeks, and the 4-in-1 pre-school booster, administered to children aged three years and four months, is vital for protecting against catching whooping cough.
Pregnant women are also encouraged to get the vaccine to protect their baby from catching the infection in the first few weeks of their life.
However, uptake of the 6-in-1 vaccine dropped to a record low of 92.6 per cent in 2023, while the 4-in-1 jab hit 83.3, also the lowest level ever logged, according to NHS England data going back to 2010.
Meanwhile, just 61.5 per cent of expectant mothers had the whooping cough jab in 2022 — the smallest number in seven years.
The figure is even lower in London (41.4 per cent).
How is it different to a cold?
Whooping cough is similar to other kinds of respiratory illness in the early stages.
Dr Head said: 'You'll have some kind of cough, and perhaps a runny nose or a fever. It is very, very hard to tell the difference at that stage between whooping cough and anything else.
'You can only really notice it's whooping cough later on in the presentation when that distinctive 'hoop' sound kicks in'.
Given not everyone experiences this symptom, the illness is difficult to accurately diagnose without laboratory testing, he added.
'That's another reason why it is hard to get outbreaks under control and why vaccination is vital,' he said.
Surveillance statistics show 2,793 lab-confirmed cases have been reported this year to the end of March.
Of these, 556 were logged in January, 918 in February and 1,319 in March.
Half (50.8 per cent) were among those aged 15 and older, with more than a quarter (28.6 per cent) in children aged 10 to 14.
But rates remained highest in babies under three months, who are most at risk.
