London: A highly contagious disease called ‘100-day cough’ is spreading in the country, authorities in the UK warned.
What begins with the symptoms of cold leads to intense coughing bouts lasting up to three months, Fox News reported.
The bacterial infection is reported to be experiencing a surge of 250% in cases.
Between July and November as many as 716 cases of pertussis, bacterial infection to lungs, have been reported, according to the UK Health Security Agency.
The number of cases reported is three times higher than in the previous period of 2022.
The rate of Infections went down during Covid-19 pandemic because of social distancing and lockdown, Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, Deputy Director of Public Health Programmes at the agency told The Independent.
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough was once a major cause death among babies, has been harnessed by a 1950s vaccine.
It occurs due to a lung and airway infection caused by Bordetella pertussis bacteria.
‘Before the 1960s, when I guess we got going with vaccination, there were epidemics every three years or so," according to Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol.
The 100-day cough now spreading in UK could cause hernia, sore ribs, middle ear infections and urinary incontinence.
Intense whooping cough, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, can cause breathing difficulties vomiting, sore or even fractured ribs.
Meanwhile, UK’s NHS said that vaccines available could protect children and babies adding that whooping cough is preventable.