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Article: 'Missed' whooping cough risk to babies
- Article from:
- The Scotsman
- Article date:
- July 7, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2006 The Scotsman. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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BABIES could be at risk of dying from whooping cough because
doctors are failing to diagnose the illness in their patients, new
research has suggested.
A study of schoolchildren found that almost 40 per cent of
youngsters who visited their doctor with a persistent cough had
whooping cough infection.
The researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, said that
whooping cough was "endemic" in UK schoolchildren, despite most being
immunised.
This meant undiagnosed youngsters could unknowingly be passing the
illness on to baby siblings because parents do not know to take
precautions to reduce the risk of spread.
Other research has suggested whooping cough is endemic in adults,
meaning ...