Guidance

Pertussis: guidelines for public health management

Guidance for healthcare professionals on the public health management of pertussis (whooping cough).

• From: UK Health Security Agency
• Published: 25 October 2012
• Last updated: 29 May 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 29 May 2026

     Updated 'Testing for pertussis in primary care' form.

  2. 21 May 2026

     Updated guidance and forms.

  3. 15 August 2024

     Updated 'Guidance on the management of cases of pertussis in England during the re-emergence of pertussis in 2024' and 'Testing for pertussis in primary care', added 'Pertussis cases in healthcare workers and of pertussis clusters in healthcare settings surveillance form' and 'Severe or fatal pertussis disease infants and children surveillance form'.

  4. 14 June 2024

     Minor updates to the guidance.

  5. 11 June 2024

     Added updated 'Guidance on the management of cases of pertussis in England during the re-emergence of pertussis in 2024' , 'Testing for pertussis in primary care' and deleted 'Guidelines for the public health management of pertussis (May 2018)'.

  6. 10 May 2024

     Added link to the guidance section of the pertussis collection.

  7. 12 March 2024

     Updated appendix 2 link in 'Guidance on the management of cases of pertussis in England during the re-emergence of pertussis in 2024'.

  8. 26 February 2024

     Added 'Guidance on the management of cases of pertussis in England during the re-emergence of pertussis in 2024' and updated 'Testing for pertussis in primary care'.

  9. 3 May 2018

     Updated guidelines with a change summary on page 5.

  10. 9 December 2016

      Updated antibiotic section and clarification of change of exclusion period.

  11. 28 July 2016

      Updated serology section in guidance and clarification of age groups for use.

  12. 15 July 2016

      Revised guidelines for the public health management of pertussis.

  13. 25 October 2012

      First published.

Applies to England

Documents

National pertussis guidance

PDF, 1.44 MB, 69 pages

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Pertussis factsheet

HTML

Template letter to parents or carers

MS Word Document, 131 KB

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Template letter to healthcare services about an outbreak

MS Word Document, 127 KB

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Template letter to healthcare workers who have been in contact with a case

MS Word Document, 126 KB

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Testing for pertussis in primary care

MS Word Document, 87.8 KB

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Pertussis outbreaks in healthcare settings surveillance form

MS Word Document, 96.5 KB

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Severe or fatal pertussis disease infants and children surveillance form

MS Word Document, 108 KB

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Details

This page contains the following documents:

National pertussis guidance

Guidance for health protection teams (HPTs) and partners on the public health management of pertussis cases, contacts, and outbreaks in healthcare and educational settings.

Pertussis factsheet

Information for individuals on pertussis, including what it is, how it spreads, symptoms, complications, vaccination, and what to do if you have pertussis.

Template letter to parents or carers

Letter to inform parents or carers about pertussis cases in a school or setting.

Template letter to healthcare services about an outbreak

Letter to notify local healthcare services of a pertussis outbreak.

Template letter to healthcare workers who have been in contact with a case

Letter to inform healthcare workers of exposure to a pertussis case.

Testing for pertussis in primary care

Summary of pertussis testing for primary care.

Pertussis outbreaks in healthcare settings surveillance form

Surveillance form for all pertussis outbreaks (2 or more cases) in a healthcare setting.

Severe or fatal pertussis disease infants and children surveillance form

Surveillance form for fatal and serious (requiring level 3 Paediatric Intensive Care support) paediatric cases of pertussis, aged less than 17 years, in England.