caregivers from the health reserve will arrive in Guyana

Doctors, nurses and pharmacists: around fifteen healthcare workers from the Santé Publique France health reserve will arrive in Guyana at the beginning of February, to deal with the resurgence of whooping cough.

The announcement was made this Tuesday, January 14, by the ARS, the Regional Health Agency of Guyana. This decision was made this morning by the ARS teams following a video conference with the health department in Paris, as well as Santé Publique France.

Since August 2024, two infants have died from whooping cough in Guyana. They were aged 2 and 16 months. To date, 18 cases have been reported in Saint-Laurent du Maroni, mainly in children and babies. Two cases involved adults.

“We have requested in the West, the PMI, the Chog, the maternity ward, and the Red Cross, to strengthen surveillance and vaccination, explains Doctor Claire Grenier, vaccine strategy manager at ARS Guyana. Despite all this good will, we do not have enough staff to achieve real vaccination catch-up, which is why we are calling on the health reserve.”

From February 4, around fifteen healthcare workers will carry out a major vaccination campaign against whooping cough at the PMI, at Chog and in the informal neighborhoods of Saint-Laurent du Maroni, in partnership with the Red Cross.

We want to massively catch up with all the little ones who are at risk of developing serious forms of whooping cough. With this campaign, we hope to catch up with them.

Dr Claire Grenier, vaccine strategy manager at ARS Guyana

The health reserve mission is expected to last three weeks.

Whooping cough is caused by bacteria and is very contagious. An infected person transmits whooping cough to 15 other people on average, according to the Pasteur Institute. Contamination occurs by air. This is a respiratory disease that begins with a runny nose, then a strong cough and difficulty breathing. In the majority of cases, there is no fever.

For health professionals, it is not obligatory to report cases of whooping cough. The 18 cases known to date therefore seem much lower than the actual cases.

According to Claire Grenier, vaccine strategy manager at ARS Guyana, “This is just the tip of the iceberg.” Especially since to confirm whooping cough, it is necessary to do “biological tests which are extremely expensive, almost 400 euros, which we do not have in quantity and which we reserve for cases where a definitive diagnosis is essential”.

In other cases, Doctor Claire Grenier recalls that “Whooping cough is easily treated with antibiotics which destroy the bacteria”.

According to the ARS, “vaccination remains the most effective strategy”in addition to barrier gestures. “It starts at the age of 2 months for children with several boosters thereafter, pregnant women can also be vaccinated, recalls the vaccine strategy manager at the ARS. As well as those around them. It is through prevention among adults that we protect our babies.” The doctor adds that “this compulsory vaccination has existed for more than 50 years, and has no side effects”.

In the 2000s, other whooping cough epidemics had already affected Guyana. Infants had died in Trois-Saut. Saint-Laurent du Maroni had also been affected. At the time, a major vaccination catch-up campaign had already been deployed on the rivers.

History repeats itself, and that doesn’t surprise Doctor Claire Grenier. “Epidemics are cyclical, come and go, she notes. In Guyana, we are still facing a shortage of human resources and difficult access to care.”

This epidemic in Guyana comes one year after that which occurred in France. The regional context is also similar. In Brazil, the number of cases increased fourfold in 2023 and 2024.