10 cases recorded since the start of the year, 4 infants in intensive care and one death. This is the assessment of whooping cough drawn up, Monday April 29, by the Lenval Foundation via a press release.
Figures which are striking only a few days after the death in the Nice hospital of a baby aged only three weeks from this disease.
“Protect children: get vaccinated against whooping cough”
“Since the start of 2024, the Lenval medical teams have noted an increase in cases of whooping cough in children”, details the Foundation in its press release. And to launch a call for vaccination: “Protect children: get vaccinated against whooping cough”.
“Vaccination is the only means of protection against whooping cough. Since 2018, the early primary vaccination of infants from the age of 2 months and the administration of iterative boosters at 6 years, 11-13 years and up to the age adult is mandatory. The effectiveness of the vaccine is around 85 to 90% after booster. Infants are not protected before the age of 6 months. We see today that they are in fact contaminated by the parents. or by another adult in close contact with them during their first 6 months of life. These people must also be vaccinated. explains Philippe Babe, the head of pediatric emergencies at Lenval.
Upsurge in whooping cough in France, Public Health France calls for vigilance
On April 19, the authorities had already warned of a resumption of the circulation of whooping cough in France, a very contagious and sometimes serious disease.
“In the first quarter, around fifteen clusters, mainly in communities (nursery schools, primary schools, daycare centers and nursery homes) but also in families, and totaling 70 cases were reported”indicated Santé Publique France in its bulletin.
Whooping cough, a respiratory infection caused by bacteria, is transmitted very easily through the air, through contact with a sick person with a cough, mainly in the family or in communities.
