WHOOPING cough is becoming more prevalent in the South East, with more than 100 cases recorded in the latest week data is available for. 

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

A total of four cases were diagnosed in Test Valley that week, with eight cases reported in Basingstoke and two in Winchester within the same time period.

In week ending Sunday, May 5, six cases were reported in both Test Valley and Winchester areas, compared to two cases in Basingstoke. In the week ending Sunday, April 28, three cases were reported in Test Valley, whilst just one case was diagnosed in week 16.

READ MORE: New owner of Thruxton Circuit shares major plans for the track

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.

SEE ALSO: Church organising free photography competition to celebrate its 200th birthday

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.”

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.