Whooping cough gets worse. And this happens mainly in Andalusia, where 26% of the cases reported in Spain as a whole are reported. To combat the outbreak and as a general recommendation, the Andalusian Association of Family and Community Nurses (Asanec) warned of the need to strengthen vaccination against whooping cough with an additional dose, which is a respiratory infection that affects all age groups. , although it is more serious in young children.
Adolescents and adults are the main source of transmission of the disease, in which scientific societies recommend a new dose as immunity weakens over time.
Data collected in the latest report from the National Epidemiological Center of the Carlos III Institute points to 128 cases of whooping cough in Andalusia, out of 482 cases in Spain. A report published last week covering cases reported in the first week of February shows a marked increase in the incidence of whooping cough in Spain, with the 38 cases reported in 2023 in the country becoming 1,606 in Spain alone. 2024.
After the common flu, whooping cough is the pathology with the highest number of cases reported in the Notifiable Diseases Report of the Carlos III Institute, followed by gonorrhea, chicken pox and syphilis.
Whooping cough, also called whooping cough, is a respiratory infection that occurs in cyclical outbreaks, is highly contagious and is transmitted through close contact with an infected person through coughing or contact with respiratory secretions. The use of masks reduces the likelihood of infection and is recommended for vulnerable groups.
“The infection is more common in winter and spring, it occurs during the catarrhal period and has an incubation period of seven to twenty days,” Asanets noted in a note collected by Efe.
More serious in infants
The head of the immunization department at Asanets, Eva Alman, notes that whooping cough is “a particularly serious disease in the first months of life” and that “90% of hospitalizations occur in children under one year of age. At the same time, the percentage of hospitalizations is higher. in children under three months of age, as they cause serious complications and even mortality.”
In Spain, whooping cough has been in a sustained epidemic since 2010, and according to the Carlos III Institute, an average of 4,000 cases have been reported annually since 2011, with a maximum peak between 2014 and 2019. Covid-19 Pandemic This has reduced the number of infections to almost zero, as has happened with most respiratory infections.
A report from the National Center for Epidemiology, analyzing the period from 2005 to 2020, includes a total of 43,534 cases of whooping cough with 10,281 hospitalizations (83% in the population less than three months old).
In Europe, an analysis carried out between 2010 and 2020 to determine the burden of whooping cough among adults over 50 years old found that the disease follows the same trends as children aged zero to four years: “It’s increasing.”
Cyclic flashes
Despite the availability of vaccines of acceptable efficacy and high vaccination coverage, outbreaks occur cyclically in countries with a high human development index. The incidence of whooping cough has increased worldwide over the past two decades and is one of the most common vaccine-preventable diseases.
This indicates, as Asanek notes, “that current vaccination strategies are insufficient to reduce the burden of disease in all age groups.”
Alman emphasizes that “it is important to recognize that the actual incidence is higher because the low degree of clinical suspicion means that whooping cough in adults often goes undiagnosed and the actual burden of disease is greater.”
According to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), symptoms of whooping cough usually appear seven to ten days after infection, but can appear as long as 21 days. Symptoms initially resemble those of a cold, including sneezing, runny nose, low-grade fever and mild cough.
Cough followed by slap
The cough changes two weeks after infection and is characterized by episodes of rapid coughing followed by a crackling or sharp popping sound. These episodes often end with the discharge of thick, clear mucus, often followed by vomiting. They first occur at night, then become more frequent during the day and may recur over a month or two.
Antibiotic therapy, as the ECDC explains, is the treatment of choice for whooping cough. However, to be effective, treatment must begin in the early stages of the disease, preferably between the onset of the disease and two weeks. Antibiotic treatment can kill bacteria in the nose and throat and limit the risk of spreading it to others.
Complications of whooping cough include pneumonia, middle ear infection, loss of appetite, dehydration, seizures, brain problems, hernias, rib fractures, rectal prolapse, and episodes of respiratory arrest. Severe cases can lead to death.
The most important way to prevent whooping cough is to be fully immunized. The whooping cough vaccine is administered in combination with the diphtheria-tetanus vaccine and has been included in the vaccination schedule in Spain since 1965. An initial course of three doses of DTaP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis vaccine) is given between two and twelve months. age. The ECDC recommends a third or fourth dose for those aged 11 to 24 months, and another additional dose for those aged three to six years.