The Avignon (Vaucluse) hospital center has been facing “an episode of clustered cases of whooping cough” since July 6, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Health Agency (ARS) announced in a statement on Thursday.
This infectious respiratory disease, which presents severe forms in fragile patients (infants under six months, pregnant women and immunocompromised people or people with chronic respiratory pathologies), has been identified in around sixty cases, the ARS indicated, specifying that the majority were adults. .
“Among these people, almost a third contracted the disease outside the hospital: these are people domiciled in the Vaucluse, Gard and Bouches-du-Rhône,” the agency added.
Situation under control in the hospital and call for vigilance
In its press release, the ARS said that the situation had been controlled in the hospital thanks to the barrier measures and the reinforcement of the monitoring of new cases, the disease being highly contagious.
Health establishments and professionals throughout the region received this Thursday “a message of information and recommendations on what to do.”
In recent years, cases of whooping cough in infants have been declining considerably. According to Public Health France, 81 cases were identified in 2019, 35 in 2020 and 4 in 2021, knowing that a link between the health measures implemented during the Covid-19 epidemic and the low number of cases is possible.
Vaccination against whooping cough is mandatory in France from 2 months of age, while it is recommended from 2022 for pregnant women from the second trimester of pregnancy.
In case of symptoms -dry cough for more than two weeks without fever-, the ARS advises consulting a doctor as soon as possible, who will prescribe a biological test.
Source: BFM TV
