
About Dr Doug Jenkinson
The purpose of this page is to justify my claim to be an expert on this subject
I am Dr Doug Jenkinson, a retired family doctor in England who has studied whooping cough in the general population for 40 years.
I qualified at Liverpool Medical School in 1967 and worked in hospitals in England and Zambia until 1974 when I joined Keyworth Medical Practice near Nottingham.
I was a lecturer in General Practice at Nottingham Medical School 1979-94 and I was awarded a doctorate for my work on whooping cough by the University of Nottingham in 1996.
I have researched and written extensively on this subject and others in medical journals and books.
I worked in a UK General Medical Practice from 1974 to 2011. In this practice I personally studied over 700 cases of whooping cough, and my special expertise is in the clinical diagnosis of this condition which most doctors have difficulty diagnosing.
I started this site in mid 2000 and I have received much encouragement and feedback. It has been modified many times but a redesign using WordPress in 2019 had brought about more improvements and functionality.
The amount of research going on into pertussis at the moment is enormous and it means I am kept busy keeping the site up to date.
My email is whoopingcough@btinternet.com
Medical information sites such as this can only achieve good ranking in Google and other some other search engines by demonstrating that the author has high levels of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness in order to protect the public.
The extensive information below sets out to demonstrate I reach that high standard.

I have recently (September 2020) written a book about my life studying whooping cough and is published by Springer Nature. ‘Outbreak in the Village. A family doctor’s lifetime study of whooping cough.’ It is also an eBook by Springer. It can alternatively be ordered from your local Amazon store. There is also an electronic version. Preview a sample of the book here.
My professional qualifications and status
My name is Doug Jenkinson
I am a British citizen
I graduated MB ChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) from the University of Liverpool in 1967.
I obtained the Diploma of Obstetrics (DObstRCOG) in 1970 in London, England.
I obtained the Diploma in Child Health (DCH) in London, England in 1972.
I obtained the Diploma of Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 1978 in London, England.
I was elected to Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 1985 in London, England.
I was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Nottingham, England in 1996.
I am registered with the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom, number 0396235.
I am a member of the British Medical Association number 6388813
I have a substantial profile on Google Scholar
Expertise
Some of my published work on whooping cough
Outbreak of whooping cough in general practice. Jenkinson D. Br Med J 1978;ii:577-8.
Whooping cough: what proportion of cases is notified in an epidemic? Jenkinson D. Br Med J 1983;287:185-6.
A search for subclinical infection during a small outbreak of whooping cough: implications clinical diagnosis. Jenkinson D, Pepper JD. J R Coll Gen Pract 1986;36:547-8.
Duration of effectiveness of pertussis vaccine: evidence from a ten year community study. Jenkinson D. Br Med J 1988;296:612-4.
Decision making for routine measles/MMR and whooping cough immunisation. BMJ. 1988 Aug 6; 297(6645): 405–407. doi:10.1136/bmj.297.6645.405
Natural course of 500 consecutive cases of whooping cough: a general practice population study. Jenkinson D. Br Med J 1995;310,299-302.
- Whooping cough: still a problemD JenkinsonPractice Nursing 7 (16), 25-27
Whooping cough is quite common and can be diagnosed clinically.BMJ 2006; 333 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.333.7563.352
- Isn’t whooping cough a thing of the past?D JenkinsonPharmaceutical Journal 289 (7714), 68
Increase in pertussis may be due to increased recognition and diagnosis. Jenkinson D. BMJ 2012;345;e5463
Pertussis (whooping cough) is common in teens and adults. BMJ 2019; 365 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l1623
Outbreak in the Village. A Family Doctor’s Lifetime Study of Whooping Cough. Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. ISBN 978-3-030-45484-5. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45485-2
Contact information
whoopingcough@btinternet.com
This page has been reviewed and updated on 20 March 2023