Whooping cough bacteria ‘can lurk silently in the noses and throats of healthy people’ without causing the highly-contagious infection
- University Hospital Southampton researchers made the world-first discovery
- Whooping cough is spread through coughs and sneezes of an infected person
- Scientists at UHS inoculated 34 human volunteers with Bordetella pertussis
- The team assessed their immune responses before giving them an antibiotic
- Results showed volunteers could be safely infected without getting symptoms
Whooping cough bacteria can ‘lurk silently’ in the noses and throats of healthy people, scientists have found for the first time.
University Hospital Southampton doctors say people carrying the hidden bacteria can unknowingly transmit the contagious infection.
Whooping cough, which is also known as pertussis, is spread through the coughs and sneezes of an infected person.
The hiding bacteria means that people can unknowingly transmit the infection to other people leading to sporadic outbreaks of the condition
It causes repeated coughing that can last for two to three months or more and affects around 16million people every year worldwide.
The infection, particularly rife in developing countries, causes about 200,000 preventable deaths in children each year.
UHS experts inoculated 34 human volunteers with Bordetella pertussis via nose drops and monitored them in a research facility for 17 days.
The team, led by Professor Robert Read, assessed their immune responses before giving them an antibiotic to clear the infection.
Results showed participants could be safely infected without developing symptoms and cleared of the bacteria within two days.
WHAT IS WHOOPING COUGH?
Whooping cough, medically known as pertussis, causes coughing bouts which can last for up several months.
It is spread through sneezes, and the first symptoms are often a runny nose, watery eyes and sore throat.
The infection has its name because between coughs children can make a ‘whoop’ sound when they gasp for breath, the NHS says.
Complications of whooping cough can include breathing difficulties, weight loss, brain damage and even death, in some cases.
Complications of whooping cough can include breathing difficulties, weight loss, brain damage and even death, in some cases
Professor Read, director of the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, said: ‘The study showed that the bacterium which causes whooping cough can lurk silently in the nose and throat of even healthy members of the community.
‘This is extremely important as it explains why we are seeing episodic outbreaks of whooping cough throughout the world, with serious disease occurring in those people who are not vaccinated or who had their vaccines a long time ago.’
There were 25,891 cases of whooping cough diagnosed in the UK between 2012 and 2018 compared to 6,216 between 2005 and 2011 – a four-fold increase, according to UHS.
Experts blame the rising number of cases on growing anti-vaccination sentiments and a relatively new jab being less effective than its predecessor.
A UHS spokesman said: ‘Adults suffer a milder form of the disease compared to young children but can still have an unpleasant cough for up to three months, while babies under the age of six months can be vulnerable to severe and life-threatening complications.
‘Although a vaccine is offered to all babies in the UK – where 18 have died as a result of the infection since 2012 – it does not offer lifelong protection and is now less effective than it was 15 years ago.
‘This is why the Southampton discovery is so significant – it means the bacteria can spread from person to person, silently, and cause disease in those who are not immune, including babies, and those not vaccinated.’
The study, which involved academics from 22 institutions across 11 countries, was published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Whooping cough is spread through sneezes, and the first symptoms are often a runny nose, watery eyes and sore throat.
The infection has its name because between coughs children can make a ‘whoop’ sound when they gasp for breath, the NHS says.
Complications of whooping cough can include breathing difficulties, weight loss, brain damage and even death, in some cases.
The youngest babies – between birth and three months – are at the highest risk of being admitted to intensive care or dying.
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