Whooping cough advice

The number of whooping cough cases in October continues to rise, and the Danish Health Authority now reiterates its call to get vaccinated against whooping cough if you are pregnant, the Danish Health Authority writes in a press release. The number of people infected in October is 942 so far. This is almost 150 more cases than in September, when 796 cases were recorded, according to the State Serum Institute. Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory infection that in non-vaccinated infants can cause a serious and, in the worst case, life-threatening course. “The Danish Health Authority therefore recommends pregnant women to be vaccinated against whooping cough in order to protect their infant against whooping cough in the first months of life, until the child is old enough to be vaccinated,” the Danish Health Authority states. When vaccinating pregnant women against whooping cough, antibodies are transferred from the pregnant woman to the foetus, which in this way will be protected against whooping cough in the first months of its life. /ritzau/