WHOOPING cough is becoming more prevalent in the South West, with over 100 cases recorded in one week.

The region saw 101 whooping cough cases in the week ending May 12, the most recent data available. A total of seven cases were diagnosed in Somerset & North Somerset that week — four in Mendip, one in South Somerset, and two in North Somerset. Bristol saw 32 cases and Devon saw 14.

In comparison, figures for the same week last year showed a total of six cases of whooping cough reported in the UK.

Government advisor Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, a consultant paediatrician and chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, has warned that vaccination rates, particularly in pregnant women, need to increase to slow the spread of the infection.

Sir Pollard said: “The troubling thing is that if we continue to have high rates of spread and low rates of vaccination, there will be more babies severely affected and sadly there will be more deaths.”

Figures released last week showed five babies in England died between January and the end of March after being diagnosed with whooping cough.

More than 2,700 whooping cough cases have been reported across England so far in 2024 – more than three times the number recorded in the whole of last year.

The UK Health Security Agency figures show there were 2,793 cases reported to the end of March. That compares to 858 cases for the whole of 2023.