Whooping Cough Vaccination
Whooping cough is a highly contagious, bacterial disease usually found in children. It starts with cold-like symptoms and then progresses into a cough that can last for 10 weeks or more. While this is very unpleasant, side effects are much more severe in babies under 1 years and can cause serious health complications. It is therefore recommended that pregnant women (and sometimes their close family members) and those who may come into contact with young babies should be vaccinated, so that they can pass protective antibodies to the newborn baby..
Whooping cough is generally thought of as a childhood illness, but it is actually more common in adults. Whooping cough can be treated with a course of antibiotics to make the infection less serious, but prevention in the form of vaccination is always recommended.
The vaccine used to immunise against whooping cough is Repevax, which is a combined vaccine that also protects against diphtheria, tetanus, polio.
Who should be vaccinated against whooping cough?
Infants normally receive whooping cough vaccine as part of their childhood Immunisation program.
If this gets missed for any reason, unvaccinated children or adults should be vaccinated at a later date.
Whooping cough vaccine should also be given to:
- Pregnant mothers – to help protect babies during their first few months, before they can be vaccinated themselves
- People who have not had a whooping cough containing vaccine for ten years or more and have been in close contact with somebody with whooping cough
- People travelling from the UK to Australia and the USA to live or work, or to visit households with newborn babies, may also need to be vaccinated
How many doses of the whooping cough vaccine is required?
A single dose of the vaccine is required to update protection for adults.
Booster doses of the vaccine are recommended every 10 years and pregnant mothers are also advised to have a dose of the vaccine in order to protect their newborn baby from severe infection during their first months.
How does the whooping cough vaccine work?
The vaccine used to protect against whooping cough is called ‘Repevax’.
Repevax is a killed vaccine which causes the body to produce antibodies that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough.
What is whooping cough?
Whooping cough is a respiratory tract infection with Bordetella pertussis bacteria.
Whooping cough – also known as pertussis – is a very contagious infection only found in humans. Whooping cough causes a distinct, violent cough which is dry, persistent and uncontrollable. It can make it difficult to breathe normally which can lead to serious health complications especially in infants and young children. It can be very painful and children often make a “whoop” sound when taking breath between coughing; hence the name.
How is whooping cough spread?
Whooping cough spreads easily from person to person via droplets.
This can be via coughing, sneezing, talking, or when spending a lot of time near one another where you share a breathing space. Due to the uncontrollable cough developed through the infection, it can spread very fast amongst people who have not been vaccinated.
What are the symptoms of whooping cough?
It produces cold-like symptoms, progressing to bouts of severe coughing with whooping and/or vomiting in between breaths.
The cough can persist for two to three months. It is most dangerous in children under 1 year of age who are also at risk of serious complications.
Complications include increased risk of dehydration, breathing problems, pneumonia and seizures. Whooping cough is less severe in older children and adults. Parents of newborns may ask unvaccinated family and friends to consider vaccination prior to seeing their child.
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Sarah King
Fleet Street Clinic is amazing! The Reception staff are welcoming and efficient. The nurses Lucy and Becky are skilled and very friendly. Dr Sally and Dr Belinda are both incredible -the best GPs I have ever met. I am so lucky this is my local clinic.
Connie
After I was let down with little notice by another pharmacy, I called Fleet Street Clinic and was booked in for the next day for my remaining travel jabs. Staff were very welcoming, professional and efficient. I had a great experience and would highly recommend using their travel vaccination services. The prices are very competitive and they had stock of the rabies vaccine when it was out of stock elsewhere!
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Brilliant clinic, would 100% recommend. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable and the nurse's care couldn't have been better. They managed to fit me in for a same-day appointment and provide me with helpful advice for follow up. Thank you :)
AES
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Cian Haynes
I highly recommend Fleet Street Clinic for travel vaccines. The experience was smooth and professional. Chiara was incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and reassuring. She thoroughly explained each vaccine and made me feel at ease. The vaccinations were quick and relatively painless, with excellent aftercare advice. I feel well-protected for my travels thanks to Chiara and the team!
Jenny Gibson
We booked, we arrived and we had our vaccines. Everything as expected. What really stood out was the level of medical advice from the nurse giving us our injections. It was explained very clearly to us to the level of protection our vaccine would give. As this was a new vaccine the results of medical trials were also highlighted. There was no push to sell more products, just clear advice on what to avoid and what to do to prepare for our trip to the Far East.
Ziad Elmagdoub
Had a great experience at Fleet Street Clinic. I went in for my occupational health clearance and everything was smooth from start to finish. The staff were friendly and professional and the whole process was really straightforward. A special thank you to Chiara from the nursing team who handled my tests. She was not only kind and reassuring but also incredibly professional and easy to talk to. She made what could have been a stressful visit feel completely relaxed.
Mr Mark Coffer
Dr Cave always delivers a compelling and thorough medical examination whilst retaining a good sense of humour and a reassuring manner. You could do no better than the Fleet Street Clinic for your MOT.
David Butler
Very easy to set up the appointment, warm and professional welcome - very transparent medical advice on a vaccine. They were all fabulous!
Ken McLean
This is a professional set up, first communications by telephone gave me positive vibes. Clinic is in a great central London location. Nurse doing the 'jabbing' was knowledgeable and slick! I will go back for future vaccinations.
FAQs
Yes, it is advised that women receive the combined diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis (DTaP-IPV) vaccination between 16 and 32 weeks of pregnancy.
The most common side effects are soreness or redness around the injection, slightly increased temperature, headache and fatigue. These symptoms are mild and short-lived, usually only present for 24-48 hours. More serious side effects are extremely rare.
Yes, infants are routinely offered the vaccine as part of their childhood vaccination programme and women are normally offered the vaccine during pregnancy.
We are happy to help if for any reason this has not been done.
However, NHS vaccination is not normally offered to family members, and we are happy to help in that situation.
Most vaccines take approximately 2 weeks to reach full effect.
Yes, we are happy to provide childhood vaccines for children if for any reason this cannot be provided by the NHS. Please contact us for more information.
When attending with children, please bring your child’s “red book” along with you.
In the UK, your child’s vaccination history is normally recorded in their red book, which should be updated every time they receive a vaccine.
If you forget to bring it, we can still see you and vaccinate your child without it, and update it afterwards.
When given as a booster dose to adults, the dtap-IPV vaccination is considered to provide protection for 10 years.
For children, the primary vaccination schedule consists of a series of doses in infancy, with pre-school boosters.
In the UK, adults are not routinely offered booster doses other than between 16-32 weeks of pregnancy, though in other countries have different policies.
Whooping cough is generally advised for pregnant women, rather than those who are in close contact with newborns.
However, particularly in countries where whooping cough is more prevalent, or where there is increased awareness of possible problems, vaccination is also advised for close contacts, caregivers and close family members who will be in contact with unimmunised infants.
We are often asked to vaccinate grandparents travelling to Australia or the United States to visit newborn grandchildren.
If you are having the whooping cough vaccine because you will be in close contact with a newborn baby, it is best to try and be vaccinated at least two weeks in advance.
Whooping cough is a highly serious illness that can lead to pneumonia and brain damage in infants. Very young infants with whooping cough may require hospital treatment and it can prove fatal. For adults, the symptoms are less severe but in both it is highly contagious.
Whooping cough symptoms start out like the common cold. After 1-2 weeks a dry, irritating cough causes severe coughing spells. It is named so due to the ‘whoop’ noise made by infants when they draw breath in between bouts of coughing.
Although whooping cough, and severe disease is associated with infants, adults can still get whooping cough, become unwell with it, and pass it on to those who are susceptible.
