Thanks to Bordetella pertussis for tweeting the link to this story in Herald Scotland.com: Cases of whooping cough soar by more than 2000%. Excerpt:
More than 2000 people have caught whooping cough in Scotland's worst outbreak for at least 25 years.
The latest figures show 2005 people fell ill with the symptoms last year – among them 134 babies under one year of age.
In 2011, there was a total of 83 cases. The 2012 figures, which show the number of notifications submitted by GPs up to Friday, December 21, represent an increase of more than 2000%.
Dr Martin Donaghy, medical director of Health Protection Scotland, which has been monitoring the problem, said there are signs the outbreak has now peaked. He warned levels of the illness circulating in the community are still very high compared to previous years.
Pregnant women are being urged to accept the offer of vaccination against the germ in order to protect babies from whooping cough when they are born.
Mothers are also being encouraged to ensure their infants receive their routine vaccinations, which build immunity against whooping cough in three doses, on time.
Across the UK 13 babies have died in the current outbreak. So far there have been no fatalities in Scotland, but a number of infants have been so ill they were admitted to intensive care.
