Almost 60,000 cases of whooping cough have been reported in Europe in 2023 and until April 2024, a more than ten-fold increase compared to 2022 and 2021, indicates the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in a press release published in May. 8.
In detail, about 25,000 cases were recorded in 2023 and more than 32,000 between January and April 2024, after “a few years of limited circulation”, with 1,500 cases recorded in 2021 and 2,600 cases in 2022.
“Similar figures were observed in 2016 (41,026) and 2019 (34,468),” specifies the ECDC.
Children are the most affected by these new cases in 17 countries studied, while in another six countries they mainly affect adolescents between 10 and 19 years old.
Babies younger than six months who have not been vaccinated or who have only been partially vaccinated are also at increased risk of developing a severe form of the disease. It is also among children where the number of deaths is highest.
“Vaccination is our key tool”
Given the increase in cases, Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health, calls for “vigilance” and vaccination.
“It is a serious disease, especially in babies. We have safe and effective vaccines that can prevent it. Vaccination is our key tool to help save lives and prevent the disease from spreading further,” he writes in X.
The ECDC explains this increase in cases, in particular, by the fact that some people are not vaccinated or have not updated their vaccination. The institution also recalls that the number of registered pertussis cases should be “interpreted with caution” due to differences in case surveillance systems established in different States.
About twenty clusters in France
In France, Public Health France reported on April 18 an increase in the circulation of whooping cough in France since the beginning of the year, with 70 cases reported. In recent months, around twenty conglomerates have been reported in eight regions of the country. In comparison, only two were recorded throughout last year, only in Île-de-France.
There whooping cough vaccine It has been mandatory in France for babies since January 1, 2018. Then, a booster dose is necessary at 6 years old, then between 11 and 13 years old and finally at 25 years old, with the possibility of catching up until 39 years old. Vaccination is also recommended for pregnant women and, in the absence of vaccination of the mother during pregnancy, in the postpartum period.
Source: BFM TV
