There were more alerts for whooping cough cases in the past two weeks than there were all last year, startling new figures show, as a map reveals the country's hotspot.
The deadly Victorian-era illness known as the "100-day cough" is currently sweeping its way through the country with cases at their highest in 40 years. Now the latest numbers from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reveal there were more than 2,000 notifications of possible cases in the two weeks up to May 12 - compared with 1,728 for the entire of 2023.
There have already been 11,000 suspected cases so far this year - around six times more than last year. The figures, which have now been mapped out to show the UK hotspots, show there were 921 in the seven days up to May 12, and 1,098 the week before.
Tragically, five babies died in the first three months of this year after catching whooping cough. The disease is a bacterial infection of the lungs which causes a specific kind of cough. It's known to spread extremely easily and most commonly affects babies and young children.
Figures have also revealed the hotspot for cases, with Bristol revealed to have more cases than anywhere else in England and Wales with 102 in the last two weeks. This was followed by Cardiff (43) and Nottingham (40).
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Nottingham has seen the most suspected cases all year with 251, followed by Bristol (226) and Cardiff (205). While these notifications are of suspected cases that lab tests have not yet confirmed, they provide an early warning of possible outbreaks.
As of March the end of March, 2,993 whooping cough infections have been confirmed by lab tests in England alone so far this year. By the end of March 2023, there had been just 30 lab-confirmed cases. That also shows that 58% of suspected cases seen by doctors in England up to March were later confirmed by lab tests.
The figures come as pharmacists admit they've had to turn away frantic parents as they face a major antibiotic shortage as a result of the soaring number of cases. Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, said pharmacies have been running out of stock.
Dr Hannbeck told The Mail on Sunday: "We have had an ongoing problem with the supply of common antibiotics for two years now and this current epidemic of whooping cough is putting an additional strain on supplies. While the shortage isn't widespread, there are sporadic problems getting hold of these drugs in pockets across the country.
"No one wants to send a mother and a child home without antibiotics. But, increasingly, pharmacists are in a situation where they're having to do just that."
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