Last year saw a record number of whooping cough cases - with more than 530 confirmed.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre said the trend has continued into early 2025, with cases expected to rise further in the spring and summer months.

The HSE is reminding pregnant women to protect themselves and their babies by getting the vaccine between 16 to 36 weeks of pregnancy.

It is available free of charge from participating GPs.

Consultant in Public Health Medicine at the National Immunisation Office Dr Chantal Migone is urging pregnant women to avail of the free vaccine.

“Vaccination against whooping cough in pregnancy is so important, because if women are vaccinated in pregnancy, the immunity passes to their baby and their baby is then protected from the moment they're born,” she said.

A dose of vaccine, © PA Wire/PA Images

“So that's why we want to really encourage pregnant women to get the whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy.”

A quarter of infants with whooping cough were hospitalised last year.

Dr Migone said the condition can be very serious for babies.

“Very young babies may not have a significant cough, but what they can get is difficulty breathing,” she said.

“So they can have episodes where they actually stop breathing and need treatment in hospital and they may experience convulsions, pneumonia and other complications.

“So it can be very serious in young babies.”

Baby with fever coughing. Image: Alamy