An infant died of whooping cough

The whooping cough epidemic continues in Fenua, with around forty cases formalized in one week at the beginning of November. Respiratory infection, caused by bacteria, is especially dangerous for the youngest: 9 infants have had to be hospitalized since July, one of whom died during the week. passed.

Despite a “trend towards decreasing incidence” over the past two weeks, whooping cough is still in the epidemic phase in Polynesia. 313 cases have been identified since June, including 39 confirmed and several others suspected during the first week of November. The weekly bulletin from the health monitoring office recalls that 11 people have required hospitalization since August, including 9 infants aged 8 months or less. The latest, less than 3 months old, died in hospital last week. “This is the first case presenting complications and the first death” of the epidemic, note the specialists. Health instructions remain unchanged: vaccination remains the best means of prevention. Parents are also asked to take their child to the doctor and limit their social interactions in the event of suspicious symptoms.

This week’s epidemiological bulletin also notes an “increasing trend” in the incidence of dengue fever in Tahiti. Of the 90 samples taken at the beginning of the month, 30 were positive, in Tahiti, but also Huahine, Raiatea, Moorea, Rangiroa, Fakarava, Bora Bora and Ua pou. Only the Austral Islands are for the moment spared from this wave which mixes type 1 of the disease, the majority since the start of the epidemic, and type 2. Note that several clusters in the urban area, at Pointe Vénus and Tuauru in Mahina, but also in Paofai and Taaone, have been the subject of awareness campaigns and disinfestation by the authorities in recent weeks and are considered, with the exception of that of Taaone, as in “always active”. It is recommended to perform a PCR test in the event of suspicious symptoms within 7 days of their appearance.