Whooping cough announced in Italy: three babies have died since January

Most cases of whooping cough were recorded in Campania, Sicily and Lazio. The data was released by the professor Alfredo Guarinothe president Italian Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (SITIP), which warned about the need for vaccination: “95% of the mothers of these children were not vaccinated, and 80% were not informed about the availability of prenatal vaccines,” Guarino said.

After the alarm started European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which identified almost 60,000 cases of whooping cough across Europe during 2023 and up to April 2024 – an increase of more than 10 times compared to 2022 and 2021 – the Italian Society of Pediatrics also joined in the alarm.

President of the Italian Society of Pediatrics, Annamaria Esteianoexplained the causes of anxiety and ways to combat it: “Whooping cough is a very contagious and dangerous disease, especially in the first months of life and in newborns, who have an increased risk of complications and death. In this age group, the mortality rate is between 1% and 1.5%. “We can protect this particularly vulnerable population by immunizing mothers in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, which is very safe and effective in protecting children who are too young to be vaccinated.”

Dr. Estaiano says deaths from whooping cough are unacceptable: “We encourage pregnant women to get vaccinated against whooping cough because the lives of our babies are at stake. It is unacceptable that in 2024 we could die from infectious diseases. for which effective and safe vaccines exist.”

Famous pediatrician Fabio MidullaHead of the Pediatric Emergency Department at Hospital Umberto I and Professor of Pediatrics at Sapienza University of Rome, explains the possible origin of this epidemic and provides important data from a Roman hospital: “In the first four months of 2024 in Umberto I, seventeen patients were hospitalized for whooping cough, of whom three ended up in intensive care; During the same period last year, we recorded only one case. This is the first epidemic peak of whooping cough since Covid-19.. The reasons are still unclear but appear to be related to several factors, including restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has also negatively impacted vaccination coverage.”

The cases that have appeared so far in Italy are only the tip of the iceberg, explains Professor Guarino: “The data relate to children hospitalized in severe clinical conditions and should therefore certainly be considered serious cases, so they are only the tip of the iceberg. regarding the spread of whooping cough, since non-hospitalized cases are not considered. “Analysis of dynamics and flows allows us to identify trends,” adds Professor Guarino, “but not absolute numbers, which will appear later and therefore allow early action from a public health point of view.”

Professor Guarino, who is also coordinator of the INF-ACT clinical network and president of the Campania SIP, expresses his concern about the data in his region: “The situation in Campania is particularly alarming, where we have recorded more than 30 hospitalizations of children with whooping cough in the pediatric infectious diseases centers of Naples.”

Professor Gurino also advocates an information campaign about the vaccine: “World Health Organization “We are considering the possibility of promoting vaccination against whooping cough in infants before the third month and carrying out educational work among the population and, in particular, among pregnant women.”

“100 day cough”

Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial infectious disease. It is also called the “100-day cough” because it can last ten weeks or more. It is caused by bacteria Bordetella pertussispresent throughout the world, which is found in the cells lining the respiratory system and causes a severe, dry cough.

In newborns and children under one year old, whooping cough can be very serious, even fatal. The most serious complications include bacterial superinfections, which can cause ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, or even neurological conditions (seizures, encephalitis). Coughing can also cause subconjunctival and nasal hemorrhages.