900 cases of whooping cough detected in Murcia region

MURcia (EP). The Ministry of Health has identified some 900 cases of whooping coughTo in the region of Murcia at the end of April last year, as confirmed this Friday by the branch adviser, Juan Jose Pedreñowho indicated that in Spain the number of cases had increased to 13,000.

Pedreño wanted to send ” message of calm“because whooping cough is “in principle a mild process,” although in children under one year of age it can be “somewhat more serious,” “and for this we have a tool,” a vaccine, which, according to him, “needs to be administered.” your time.”

In this sense, the head of the Ministry of Health recalled that the whooping cough vaccine should be administered to children at 2 months, 4 and 11 years old, as well as at six years old, as well as to pregnant women in the period from 27 to 36 weeks of pregnancy.

Europe is experiencing a relapse of this disease. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported that almost 60,000 cases of whooping cough were reported in European countries during 2023 and up to April 2024, ten times more than in 2022 and 2021.

The main cause of whooping cough is the pathogen ‘Bordetella whooping cough’ which spreads through the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and produces toxins that damage the membrane and disable the body’s defense mechanisms. The infection is characterized by episodes of severe spasmodic coughing.

It is often classified as a childhood disease, but adults can also contract it, according to Europa Press sources. Before vaccination programs Whooping cough was one of the deadliest childhood diseases.