Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial infection transmitted by airborne transmission through contact with an ill person, through droplets released from the nose when sneezing or from the mouth when coughing. Knowing that contagiousness is greatest in the first week, a sick person can infect up to seventeen people.
An endemic disease that is difficult to eradicate despite vaccination.”
Although the number of whooping cough cases has decreased significantly since the introduction of the vaccine, the bacteria continues to circulate. In Belgium we are seeing an increase in cases. “We have them every day, we are experiencing a sharp increase to the point where there is a shortage of antibiotic supplies. points out Dr. Sophie Blumenthal, specialist in pediatric infectious diseases in Chirek (Delta) and president of the RSV working group at the Supreme Council of Health (CSS). The previous epidemic began in 2016, in part due to the fact that the vaccine against this disease is 85% effective, but after 5 years its effectiveness decreases and reaches 65%. Then every 4-5 years we have an epidemic that affects partially protected people. Currently, children between 7 and 13 years of age are suffering the most.”.
Risks of severe forms
Typically, the most affected populations are infants who are too young to be vaccinated, and adolescents and adults who have lost protection from vaccination. Outside of Belgium, there is currently a rise in whooping cough cases in Europe, with significant epidemics in Croatia, Denmark and the UK.
Faced with the alarming development of this “silent epidemic”, time is running out: “If we do nothing today, we will have more than 30,000 deaths a year”
And what you need to keep in mind is that whooping cough can really be recognized when a cold develops into fairly sudden and repeated attacks. “You need to think about this when you have a chronic or atypical cough that lasts more than 3 weeks, and you cannot contract this disease not because you are vaccinated. Then it is necessary to undergo an examination, prescribe antibiotics, and it is quite possible to prevent the spread of infection. she continues. You can get tested by a doctor using a smear and the results come back quite quickly. What you also need to know is that before 6 months it is very dangerous, the mortality rate among babies is really high. If the first vaccine is administered at 2 months of age, effectiveness occurs only after the fourth.”.
In addition to infants, who may experience apnea, sometimes accompanied by bradycardia (lower heart rate) or even bouts of cyanosis (blue discoloration of the skin) during seizures, severe forms can also develop in older children, pregnant women, asthmatics or the sick. even people with weakened immune systems.
“This is an endemic disease that we cannot eradicate despite vaccination.“Particularly because there is a loss of immunity over time,” Dr. Blumenthal emphasizes. Even if we no longer have the very high mortality rate of the pre-vaccination era, the disease continues to cause damage in forms that are weakened but can be severe.”. In December, a baby died in Wallonia, knowing that the last known death of a child from whooping cough in Belgium dates back to 2015.
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