If cases of whooping cough have decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic, they are increasing again on both sides of the Atlantic.
ADVERTISEMENT
A resurgence of whooping cough has been seen in many countries in 2024, with the United States reporting more than 18,500 cases since the start of the year.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of cases of this infection has increased fivefold since last year in the country.
This resurgence echoes that observed in Europe, with French health authorities reporting the worst whooping cough epidemic in 25 years.
Public health France reported last month that an epidemic had been underway in the country since the beginning of 2024 “with very significant circulation of the virus, which has intensified in recent months”.
Nearly 35,000 cases of whooping cough have been laboratory confirmed by PCR test in France. This virus has caused the deaths of 22 children in the country this year, including 20 infants.
An epidemiological surveillance system made it possible to estimate the number of cases observed by general practitioners at more than 130,000, according to the public health agency.
What is whooping cough?
Although whooping cough can present with cold-like symptoms, the condition was once called “100-day cough” because it can cause a cough that may last for several weeks.
This disease is particularly at risk for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated infants.
According to specialists, the best way to prevent whooping cough remains vaccination and, according to the European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), vaccination during pregnancy “is very effective in preventing illness and death in newborns who are still too young to be vaccinated”.
An unprecedented resurgence
Pertussis outbreaks are generally cyclical, occurring every three to five years. The resurgence observed in the United States indicates “a return to more usual trends” after the COVID-19 pandemic,** during which pertussis cases declined significantly, according to the CDC.
According to the Pasteur Institute, the pandemic has disrupted the regularity of these cycles. In a report published last month, the institute said there had been an “unprecedented resurgence” this year.
Increase in cases in early 2024
According to a ECDC report published at the start of the year, nearly 60,000 cases of whooping cough have been recorded in European countries in 2023 and until April 2024, i.e. ten times more than in 2021 and 2022.
In England, more than 13,000 cases of whooping cough were recorded between January and August 2024, according to the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA), and 10 infant deaths were recorded.
The number of cases increased in early 2024, the UKHSA said this month, “based on usual seasonal patterns, and subsequently declined, but this figure remains high compared to years before the pandemic.”
