WHOOPING cough is becoming more prevalent in the South East, with more than 100 cases recorded in the last week.

The region saw 167 whooping cough cases in the week ending May 12, the 19th week of the year, which is the most recent data available.

Two cases were diagnosed in Winchester that week, with four cases reported in Test Valley and eight in Basingstoke and Deane during the same time period.

In week 18, six cases were reported in Winchester, the same amount as Test Valley with two cases reported in Basingstoke. In week 17, three cases were reported in Winchester, whilst just one case was diagnosed in week 16.

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Just two cases of whooping cough were diagnosed across Hampshire in the first week of the 2024, up to 167 in week 19.

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.

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Sir Andrew 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.”

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.