A 3-week-old infant died a few days ago in Nice from whooping cough. The Lenval Foundation, a children’s hospital, has launched a call for vaccination against this disease.
Since the start of 2024, more and more outbreaks of infection have been identified with whooping cough in the Paca region. Public Health France has launched an alert bulletin. In Nice, it is the turn of the Lenval children’s hospital to do so. If Public Health France calls for vigilance, it is because this disease is very contagious.
LMedical teams are seeing an increase in cases of whooping cough among children. In a press release, the Nice foundation specifies that “10 children were identified, including four infants who were admitted to intensive care. The youngest of them, only a few weeks old, unfortunately could not be saved. Only one has since been able to leave the hospital, the last two still requiring care. “
The health establishment reiterates the importance of vaccination to fight against this disease.
Vaccination is the only means of protection against whooping cough. Since 2018, early primary vaccination of infants from the age of 2 months and the administration of iterative boosters at 6 years, 11-13 years and until adulthood(1) has been mandatory. The effectiveness of the vaccine is approximately 85 to 90% after booster. Infants are not protected before the age of 6 months.
Dr Philippe Babe, Head of pediatric emergencies at Lenval, in Nice
For Doctor Babe, “we see today that they are in fact contaminated by their parents, or by another adult in close contact with them during their first six months of life. These people must also be vaccinatedr.”
Whooping cough is a respiratory infection causing coughing fits which, if left untreated, can continue for several weeks. It is very dangerous in the elderly, pregnant women and infants who have not yet been vaccinated.
You should know that the first dose of vaccine is injected at the age of two months, then a second dose is administered at four months.
In newborns, whooping cough can lead to hospitalization or even be fatal, as was the case in Nice.
Contamination occurs through the air, through contact with droplets coming from the patient’s nose or mouth and projected during coughing.
In its latest 2023 assessment of vaccination in the Provence Alpes and Côte d’Azur region on April 26, Public Health France specifies that “although vaccination coverage against meningococcal C is increasing by 5 points among adolescents, vaccination catch-up remains very insufficient among young people aged 15 to 19 with vaccination coverage of 37%”
In France, where vaccination against this disease has been compulsory for infants since 2018, contamination occurs via adults, who contaminate babies too young to be vaccinated. This is why the HAS has recommended, since 2022, that pregnant women be vaccinated. More broadly, Health Insurance also encourages adults with a parental plan to be vaccinated against the disease.
In France, over the period 2005-2015, between 122 and 509 children were hospitalized each year due to whooping cough. The number of cases observed decreased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic, probably due to the barrier gestures adopted during this period.
