Pregnant women urged to get whooping cough vaccine as cases surge in Northern Ireland

A toddler coughing.
There has been a surge in the number of whooping cough cases in Northern Ireland this year Credit: PA

The Public Health Agency have appealed to pregnant women to get vaccinated against whooping cough.

There's been a steep rise in cases with 1788 confirmed cases so far this year compared with just two between 2021 and 2023.

The vaccine is offered to women who are between 16 weeks and 32 weeks pregnant.

It is also given as part of the childhood vaccination programme to children at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age and at aged 3 years 4 months.

The Public Health Agency said “whooping cough spreads very easily and can make babies and young children in particular very ill, and sadly can even be fatal in young babies or people with heath conditions. It can be prevented through vaccination.”

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