Whooping cough booster jab call

Babies are vaccinated against whooping cough at two to four months

Parents of new-born babies should be considered for a whooping cough booster, according to experts.

Doctors at Edinburgh's Sick Kids Hospital said it could be the most effective way of preventing the disease, which can be fatal in babies.

Vaccination is effective and is usually given to infants at two to four months, with a booster after three years.

But they can catch it from affected household members before that time and incidence is rising in adults.

Coughing spells

Booster vaccinations for adults are already being tried in France, Germany and parts of Australia and the US, according to an article by a group of paediatric intensive care doctors on bmj.com.

Doctors at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh report two fatal cases of whooping cough (pertussis) in unvaccinated young infants.

In the first case, a one-month-old boy was taken to hospital with a five-day history of cough, runny nose and difficulty feeding, and died within 24 hours.

Both parents, and an elder sibling, reported coughing spells with vomiting in the previous two weeks.

In the second case, a six-week-old girl was taken to hospital with a five-day history of cough and breathlessness. She died and her mother subsequently tested positive for pertussis infection.

Recent statistics do not indicate a rise in the number of whooping cough cases UK Department of Health

"Most infants catch the disease from affected household members - in more than half the cases the parents," the BMJ report said

"Mortality remains high for young infants developing invasive pertussis despite modern paediatric intensive care.

"The best solution is to prevent infection.

"Introducing an adolescent pertussis booster, as adopted in several countries, or more targeted vaccination of household contacts of this most vulnerable group should be carefully considered."

A spokesman for the UK Department of Health said: "The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) looked last year at the possibility of introducing a booster vaccination against whooping cough for adolescents and parents of young babies.

"The committee decided not to recommend any changes to our current whooping cough immunisation schedule but to continue monitoring the situation carefully.

"Recent statistics do not indicate a rise in the number of whooping cough cases.

"In fact, whooping cough rates have continued to go down following the introduction of the pre-school booster, and benefits have also been seen from the accelerated schedule."