HEALTH experts are urging parents to continue giving their children vaccinations against whooping cough after research claimed babies who receive the jab are not guaranteed lifelong immunity.
The research, carried out by University of Oxford, involved 172 children, aged five to 16 years old.
It found that 64 of those children had evidence of a recent whooping cough infection despite 55 of them having been fully immunised.
Bolton has a good record and is among the best in Greater Manchester, with no cases since 2004. In Bolton, 92 per cent of parents give their children the vaccinations.
But experts now say parents must keep up high levels of vaccination to maintain "herd immunity", which ensures enough children are protected against the disease to prevent an outbreak.
Graham Munslow, Health Protection Specialist at Bolton Primary Care Trust, said: "It is very important that parents continue to have their children vaccinated because that's what's preventing an outbreak."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article