With his infectious bonhomie and can-do approach to life, creative dynamo Bill Bailey doesn’t come across as a man who is easily scared. But that’s exactly how he felt when he was struck down with whooping cough earlier this year and left fighting for every breath.
“It was terrifying and exhausting,” reveals the actor, presenter, musician and comedian, who for weeks was too afraid to go to bed as the relentless coughing was particularly bad at night. “I slept in a chair because if I lay down, it felt like I was suffocating,” he says. “Sometimes I’d wake up at 3am so breathless from coughing that I wasn’t sure I was going to survive.”
The former Strictly winner and star of quirky nineties comedy Black Books began to feel ill after a holiday to Indonesia in December last year, but his symptoms really peaked in February.
“On the plane back, I had a sore throat and a sniffle. I thought I was coming down with a cold, but then the coughing started, and it got worse and worse,” says Bill who lives in London’s Hammersmith with his wife Kristin. “I just couldn’t get air to my lungs, and it was an effort just to speak.”
Bill, who turns 60 in January, has always enjoyed good health despite having asthma. But his reliever inhaler did nothing to alleviate his symptoms.
“Initially I assumed it was asthma, but that usually made me wheezy, and this felt completely different,” he says.
“Because the coughing was so intense, and I’d often start retching or even throwing up, I started to wonder if I had some sort of serious gastric issue as the constant gagging dominated nearly every moment.
“Someone would ask me if I was OK when I started coughing, but I couldn’t even nod or grunt in response. I’ve never been an anxious person, but I lived in constant fear of having an awful asthma attack on stage or ending up in hospital with some dreadful disease.”
After months of feeling incredibly unwell, and repeated trips to the doctor, even Bill’s father Christopher, a retired GP, was baffled. It was only when Bill’s son, 21-year-old son Dax, pointed out a flurry of posts on social media about a huge uptick in whooping cough that the comedian put two and two together.
“At first, I found the idea ludicrous. I mean we’re in 2024, I thought this was something that affected Victorian urchins not healthy adults,” he says.
“But someone from our holiday to Indonesia had been diagnosed with whooping cough so it made sense. Then all these terribly sad stories began to appear in the press about babies dying from the illness.”
Whooping cough is an upper respiratory tract infection caused by the pertussis bacteria and spread through coughing. Although symptoms start with a runny nose, a sore throat, and a cough, after a couple of weeks, the cough becomes more severe and is characterised by episodes of numerous rapid coughs, followed by a high-pitched whoop.
These episodes frequently end with the coughing up mucus, sometimes followed by vomiting or choking.
If given early enough, antibiotics can help to lessen the symptoms but, in extreme cases, it can result in pneumonia, seizures and even death.
According to the latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency, cases of whooping cough – or pertussis as it is clinically known – have soared this year, with 12,200 confirmed cases in England during the first six months of 2024, compared to 856 cases in the whole of 2023.
Prevalence usually peaks in the spring, but with cases still unseasonably high, health charity Asthma + Lung UK is urging those eligible to get vaccinated.
“Currently the vaccine is only available to pregnant women and young babies,” says Dr Andy Whittamore, a practising GP and clinical lead at Asthma + Lung UK.
“In recent years vaccination rates have been dropping which is deeply concerning and might have contributed to the spike we are seeing. We’d urge people in these vulnerable groups to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Rates of infection are still very high.”
It is a sentiment echoed by Bill: “If you qualify for the vaccine, please, please do get one,” he urges. “This is a truly horrible illness.”
Although not eligible for the whooping cough vaccination himself, Bill always gets his flu jab out of fear that a nasty infection might exacerbate his asthma.
“Winter can be a difficult time for me as the colder air really triggers my asthma symptoms, and picking up a cold and virus can affect my breathing too,” he says.
”I am fortunate that I spend a lot of time touring in Australia, and I feel so much better there because it’s obviously much warmer and the air is cleaner too.”
Bill is currently touring there with his one-man show Thoughtifier, which he describes as ‘a magical mystery tour of the human mind’.
“I’m no gym bunny but performing requires a certain level of stamina and after being so ill earlier this year, I’m determined to stay well this winter, so I try to get moving for at least half an hour every day,” he says.
“Of course, nobody has the time to do a 12-hour hike every day but little and often can make a difference – keeping active helps me to breathe more easily and I know it makes a huge difference to my general health.”
Bill Bailey will be performing his show Thoughtfier at London’s Royal Haymarket Theatre from December 28 until January 19. Tickets are on sale now and are available at BillBailey.co.uk
Asthma + Lung UK has created a bespoke winter health guide to help people with lung conditions stay well (asthmaandlung.org.uk)
