A baby whose mother was not vaccinated against whooping cough while pregnant has died after contracting the infection, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
The death, which occurred between March and June, is the first fatal case of whooping cough in the UK this year and comes as vaccination rates among children and pregnant women have fallen to their lowest levels in 15 years.
It follows government warnings about low vaccine uptake, including among children, as well as an increase in vaccine hesitancy. None of the main childhood vaccines in England reached the uptake target of 95 per cent last year, recent data from the health agency showed.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a bacterial infection of the lungs and airways which can be fatal, particularly for babies. Eleven infants died of the highly infectious illness in 2024.
Pregnant women, as well as infants and young children, are advised to get vaccinated against it. The uptake among pregnant women currently stands at 72.6 per cent.
The UKHSA says vaccination during pregnancy, introduced in late 2012, is “key to passively protecting babies” in their first weeks of life. Infants are first offered a jab which protects against whooping cough at eight weeks old. Thirty-three infants have died of the illness since 2013 – 27 of whom had mothers who had not received the jab in pregnancy.
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The UKHSA’s deputy director Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam said: “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.
“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.
“The recent increase in uptake of the whooping cough vaccine among pregnant women across the country shows that even more mothers are taking steps to protect their newborns. We want to ensure every expectant mother is offered the vaccine at the optimal time and understands that this vaccine is the best way to protect their baby during those crucial first weeks after birth.
“If you are pregnant and approaching 20 weeks, and haven’t been offered the whooping cough vaccine, please speak to your GP or midwife today to find out how you can get your vaccine.”
The health agency and ministers have recently warned of declining vaccine uptake among children.
Last year, the share of five-year-olds who had received one dose of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine remained at its lowest level since 2010/11, at 91.9 per cent. The uptake rate for both doses – 83.7 per cent – was at its lowest since 2009/10.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends at least 95 per cent of children should receive vaccine doses to achieve herd immunity. Poor uptake of the MMR vaccine was blamed for a rise in measles cases earlier this year.
In July, a child died at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool after contracting the illness. The hospital said the highly contagious virus was on the rise among young people in the region and it had seen a surge in “seriously unwell” children being admitted.
In 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded since 2012.
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Read MoreAlmost one in five children starting primary school this week in England are not fully protected from diseases including whooping cough, polio, tetanus and diphtheria, the latest UKHSA figures also show.
Uptake of the four-in-one pre-school booster vaccine stood at just 81.4 per cent among five-year-olds in England in 2024/25, down from 82.7 per cent the previous year and the lowest since current data began in 2009/10. The figure peaked at 88.9 per cent in 2012/13.
The government this week said all young children in the UK would be offered a free chickenpox vaccine by the NHS from January 2026.
Health minister Stephen Kinnock told the BBC that the government was concerned about vaccine uptake and hesitancy, which he said had increased after the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said campaigns explaining “the benefits of getting vaccinated and the fact that this is 100 per cent safe” would be brought forward as the government sought to “win this battle against the conspiracy theorists”.
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