Whooping cough--a retrospective study of hospital admissions.

A retrospective survey was carried out on admissions to hospital for the complications of whooping cough. The number of admissions throughout a decade remained proportional to the total number of cases of whooping cough notified. Children under one year constituted 12.7 per cent of total notifications, but 57.3 per cent of hospital admissions. There were 12 deaths among 2,972 hospital admissions in the years 1965 to 1974; all were in children under 12 months, and ten were in babies under six months.