The number of newborn babies seriously ill from whooping cough has increased rapidly in recent weeks. This trend is also noticeable in Drenthe, says infection control doctor Geert Jan Stijntjes of GGD Drenthe. “It is important to protect the very small children.”
Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria and is very contagious. The bacteria produce a toxin, causing severe coughing fits. This cough can last for several weeks to months. Another name for whooping cough is therefore also ‘hundred-day cough’.
Stijntjes: “Young children in particular can become seriously ill and end up in hospital.” Symptoms include, in addition to coughing fits, vomiting and breathing too little or even stopping.
Whooping cough infections also occur in adults, but the course is less serious. The ‘barking cough’ that accompanies the disease is characteristic. The disease was contained from the end of 2019 thanks to vaccinations.
“The 22-week injection was then introduced for pregnant women to protect their unborn child against whooping cough. Corona measures also worked well against the spread. Now that everything is back to normal, you can see it increasing,” Stijntjes notes.
The current resurgence of whooping cough is related to declining immunity, probably because the virus was hardly transmitted during corona times. “Many people can get whooping cough again,” Stijntjes emphasizes.
The infection doctor advises pregnant women to get the 22-week shot and to vaccinate their born child. “Then you have the least chance that your child will become seriously ill.”