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Several cases of whooping cough have been reported in Estrie.
Photo: shutterstock / speedkingz / SpeedKingz
Published at 12:13 p.m. EDT
The increase in cases of whooping cough worries public health in Quebec. More than 3,000 cases have been recorded since the start of the year, including just under 700 in Estrie.
Whooping cough is a disease very contagious which is characterized by severe coughing fits
recalls public health, which calls for vaccination for pregnant women and parents of babies.
We really want to prevent and avoid cases of whooping cough in newborns under six months old, because at that time it can cause a slowing of the heart rate with hospitalization.
explains pediatrician and microbiologist-infectious disease specialist at CHU Ste-Justine, Caroline Quach-Thanh.
Whooping cough is currently circulating a lot in Quebec
Small babies can end up in intensive care and they can even die, that’s really what we want to avoid as much as possible.
adds the doctor specializing in public health at the CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches, Marie-Ève Beauregard.
The CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS recalls for its part that vaccination remains the best way to prevent hospitalizations and deaths. In Estrie, the situation has been stable for more than ten weeks with around thirty new cases each week.
underlines the establishment.
The first doses of whooping cough vaccines are given at 2, 4 and 12 months of life.
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