The alarm signal sounds. The resumption of the circulation of whooping cough, a very contagious and sometimes serious disease among the youngest, “has begun in France” since the beginning of the year, Public Health France noted on Thursday, April 18, calling for vigilance and recalling the importance of vaccination.
The health agency warns, in particular, of “a clear increase in the number of group cases”: since the beginning of 2024, about fifteen group cases have been reported in eight continental regions, compared to two in the Ile-de-France alone throughout the year. year 2023.
70 cases reported
“In the first quarter, about fifteen outbreaks were reported, mainly in communities (kindergartens, primary schools, nurseries and daycare centers), but also in families, and in total 70 cases,” according to this document.
Last week, every day. Good Morning reported the death of a three-week-old baby at Lenval University Hospital in Nice after four very young children were hospitalized. Two others remain in intensive care.
in the waves
Whooping cough, a respiratory infection caused by bacteria, is transmitted very easily through the air, through contact with a sick person with cough, mainly in the family or community environment. For example, if a Covid infection can infect three people, this figure can jump to 17 in the case of whooping cough, a disease that returns in successive waves.
In France, previous epidemic peaks were recorded in 1997, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2012-2013 and 2017-2018.
“It is a disease that occurs in waves and we find ourselves between last year 2023 and the first months of 2024 facing an extremely significant resurgence,” said Professor Yves Buisson, epidemiologist and member of the Academy of Physicians.
It causes frequent and prolonged coughing fits, and can be serious for babies and vulnerable people (chronic respiratory patients, immunocompromised people, pregnant women). Deaths are rare but can occur especially in very young unvaccinated babies.
“Whooping cough in older children and adults causes difficulty breathing and cough, while in babies it can cause breathing pauses that lead to cardiorespiratory arrest,” confirms, always on our antenna, Dr. Christophe Batard, pediatrician and member of the French Association of Outpatient Clinics. Pediatrics.
The importance of the vaccine
Given that the “resumption of community circulation of the bacteria could intensify in the coming months”, Public Health France emphasizes that “surveillance remains essential, taking into account the need to reinforce public awareness about this disease and its prevention modalities “, taking into account vaccination.
“The last recommendation is to vaccinate pregnant women. These mothers will transmit antibodies against whooping cough to their newborns, who will be protected by maternal antibodies,” Professor Daniel Floret, professor emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of Lyon, explains to BFMTV.
On the other hand, if the current increases in France are a cause for concern, they are much less proportional to the situation experienced by several European neighbors. “To date, the French situation is not comparable to that of our European neighbors and those on the other side of the Atlantic, which have reported several hundred cases per week since the last quarter of 2023,” Public Health France moderates.
Major epidemics have been reported in Croatia, Denmark and the United Kingdom and significant increases in cases in Belgium, Spain and Germany. Deaths were also recorded this week in the Czech Republic and at the end of January in Serbia. In the Netherlands, four babies have died in recent weeks.
Source: BFM TV
