For younger people, whooping cough is dangerous and can be prevented

This comment was adapted from episode 147 of the Health & Veritas podcast. Sign up to receive weekly doses of expert knowledge about health and the health industry.

For most of the 21st century, there have been between 10,000 and 50,000 cases of whooping cough each year in the U.S. Whooping cough, also known as whooping cough for its characteristic dry cough followed by a whooping sound, is a disease that It can be prevented with vaccines and causes its most serious effects. in children under one year of age, for whom it causes hospitalization in a third of patients and of whom between 1 in 100 and 1 in 200 will die after infection.

Beginning in the year of the pandemic, pertussis cases decreased dramatically: to 6,000 in 2020, then to 2,000 in 2021, 3,000 in 2022, and 5,600 in 2023. Some of this drop may reflect underdiagnosis, but some is likely due to social distancing and other unrelated causes. -pharmacological measures adopted during the pandemic. Because immunity wanes considerably over time, adults are the natural reservoir of the bacteria and their reduced exposure is likely to result in reduced risk to infants around them.

It should come as no surprise that there has been a broad spike this year, with 18,506 cases so far, with 11 weeks left. If it continues as I suspect, we will end the year with around 24,000 to 25,000 cases. That would be high, but not extremely; six times in the last two decades before covid, we had higher numbers.

So why do I mention this? Because this is an extremely preventable disease. Whooping cough is a serious illness for babies and even young children, and it can be prevented by vaccination. Compared to many of our other vaccines, the herd effect is much smaller: my vaccine does not necessarily protect against whooping cough. Therefore, there are good reasons for parents to bring their children up to date on vaccines. Because immunity wanes over time, we give a sequence of five shots, from two months of age to six years of age. It is also recommended that pregnant women get vaccinated, as it is the only way to protect one of the highest risk groups: babies under two months old. And yet, more than 40% of pregnant women do not get vaccinated, according to the most recent study, from last month. Only 80% of children appear to be up to date on pertussis vaccines, substantially less than polio and measles, mumps and rubella vaccines.

This is a reminder that our vaccination programs only work if people use them. These are not minor illnesses: your decision can be life or death. Choose wisely.