Doctor explains treatment for whooping cough on This Morning A doctor who worked on the frontline of a deadly epidemic has issued an urgent plea as cases of the “100-day cough ” are rising again in the UK. Retired GP Doug Jenkinson warned that both young children and pregnant women should be vaccinated against whooping cough. Known medically as pertussis, whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the lungs and breathing tubes that spreads very easily.
It is particularly dangerous to babies and can lead to pneumonia, seizures and even death. Recalling his experience as a GP during an outbreak in 1977, Mr Jenkinson stressed the importance of getting jabbed. In his 37 years as a GP in the Midlands he documented more than 700 cases of the infection.
Speaking to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), he said: “I returned from a spell in Central Africa in the mid-1970s to take up a GP job in the Midlands to find that most parents had stopped allowing their babies to be given whooping cough vaccine. “There had been a scare that the vaccine could very occasionally cause serious side effects. Nobody knew whether it was true or not, and even some doctors stopped advising it.
READ MORE Six of the most important red flag signs of cancer you shouldn't ignore Cases of whooping cough have been rising in the UK (Image: Getty Images) “It was later proved that it was not the vaccine causing the side effects. But, by then, the damage had been done. “Whooping cough came back big tim.
