New whooping cough jab has the power to save 200,000 lives

  • Around 200,000 youngsters die each year from whooping cough worldwide
  • The current vaccine is known to be losing its power in protecting children 
  • But the new jab being created in a £2.3million study will be more effective 

By

Stephen Matthews For Mailonline


Published:
19:00 EDT, 14 June 2017

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Updated:
19:00 EDT, 14 June 2017

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Hundreds of thousands of children’s lives could be saved with the development of a new vaccine for whooping cough.

Around 200,000 youngsters die each year across the world as a result of the highly contagious infection, global figures suggest. 

But a new jab will be more effective against the bug responsible than the current one that is known to be losing its power, researchers claim.

Researchers believe a new whooping cough vaccine will be more effective against the bug responsible than the current one (stock)

Researchers believe a new whooping cough vaccine will be more effective against the bug responsible than the current one (stock)

Researchers believe a new whooping cough vaccine will be more effective against the bug responsible than the current one (stock)

A team of scientists from all across Europe, including from Southampton University, are working on the ‘landmark’ £2.3 million study.

Professor Robert Read, director of the National Institute for Health Research Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, is behind the British arm of the work.

He said: ‘This study is part of a landmark European project that aims to develop a better vaccine against whooping cough as we know protection by the current vaccine seems to be much less effective than it was 15 years ago.

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‘To do this we need to know more about the immune response generated against B. pertussis (the bacteria responsible) and what kind of immune response protects against whooping cough.’

Who is funding the study? 

The ongoing research is part of a wider £24 million project that is partly funded by the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation.

As part of the study, Southampton University researchers will inoculate healthy volunteers with nose drops containing the responsible bug.

WHOOPING COUGH VACCINE: A GROWING CONTROVERSY 

Growing concerns are emerging over the effectiveness of the existing whooping cough vaccine that is given to infants before they turn four.

In 2013, an outbreak of the highly contagious infection occurred at a Florida preschool – despite most having had the preventative jab.

Cases of whooping cough are also known to be on the rise in recent years, with experts pointing their fingers toward the failure of the injection.

The NHS says these vaccines, of which there are three routine ones, ‘don’t offer lifelong protection’ from whooping cough. 

Each participants will then have their immune response monitored before being given an antibiotic to clear the infection.  

What is whooping cough? 

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and airways.

It is caused by a bacterium called B. pertussis and is spread through coughs and sneezes of someone with the bug.

Coughs caused by the infection, which predominantly affects babies under the age of six months, can last for up to three months. 

Infants of such a young age are the most vulnerable to severe and sometimes life-threatening respiratory bugs. 

Who does it affect? 

In the UK, 18 babies have died as a result of the infection since 2012. On a global scale, it affects 16 million people every year. 

Adults suffer a milder form of the disease but can still have an unpleasant cough for up to three months. 

The first symptoms are similar to those of a cold and intense coughing bouts start around a week later. 

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