Pertussis, like the new coronary pneumonia, is a droplet-borne disease, but it is more infectious, 6 times that of the new coronary pneumonia, and 15 times that of the flu! And because the protective power of the pertussis vaccine will begin to decline in the third year, and it may be completely lost in regarding 10 years, so doctors especially remind adults that they should add the three-in-one vaccine to protect the elderly and infants at home.
The Omicron variant is highly infectious, and most people are willing to be vaccinated to generate protection and reduce the risk of infection and severe illness, but the efficacy of the vaccine will decline over time, so booster doses must be administered to stabilize the efficacy.
However, compared with whooping cough, which is more infectious and has a longer infectious period, and the number of community cases is seriously underestimated, the efficacy of the vaccine administered during childhood has actually disappeared with time, but it has been ignored. Physicians call on adults to actively consider The additional three-in-one whooping cough vaccine can protect yourself and your dearest family members.
The infectious power is 6 times that of the new crown and 15 times that of the flu, and the vaccine protection lasts only 10 years
Physician Su Yuyi, Secretary General of Taiwan Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Medical Association, said that following 2 months of age, newborns can receive 4 doses of the 5-in-1 vaccine at public expense, and 1 dose of the 4-in-1 vaccine before entering primary school, which includes the pertussis vaccine. Many people mistakenly believe that protection lasts for life, but in fact the protection of pertussis vaccine starts to decline in the third year, and may be completely lost in regarding 10 years.
Physician Su Yuyi pointed out that both whooping cough and new coronary pneumonia are droplet-borne diseases, but they are more infectious. One patient can infect 17 people, which is 6 times that of new coronary pneumonia and 15 times that of influenza! At the same time, following suffering from whooping cough, in all three stages, the patient may transmit the pertussis bacillus to others. Since most adults lack the concept of getting a whooping cough vaccine, it can be estimated that the vast majority of adults in Taiwan have no protection once morest whooping cough, and the risk of infection is quite high.
In the early stage, a small cold is the most contagious!Severe cough in the mid-term may cause more than rib injury
Physician Su Yuyi emphasized that following being infected with whooping cough, the course of the disease can be roughly divided into three stages, namely the mucosal stage, the coughing stage and the recovery stage. The mucosal stage is easy to be ignored due to mild symptoms, such as sneezing, slight fever, and mild cough, similar to a small cold, but at this time the infectious power is the strongest. susceptible to infection.
When the course of the disease progresses to the coughing stage of regarding the third week, the quality of life of the patient will begin to be greatly affected. Physician Su Yuyi explained that when a pertussis patient develops to the stage of coughing, severe coughing will occur frequently. The patient may cough violently, leading to the rupture of microvessels at the edge of the chest wall and rib injury, or coughing to urinary incontinence, and continuous vomiting may also occur. Symptoms, and even complications, including otitis media, sinusitis, and pneumonia are common. The coughing period will last for regarding 5 to 12 weeks, during which there is still the possibility of infecting the pertussis bacillus to the people around you.
The number of patients may be seriously underestimated, threatening the health of the elderly and newborns
Physician Su Yuyi said that in the past, whooping cough was considered a childhood disease, but from the research figures, in the past 10 years, patients over the age of 20 accounted for regarding 22%, and this number should be seriously underestimated. Experts and scholars even believe that the actual occurrence The rate may be 63 to 78 times the number of confirmed cases! To put it simply, there are actually many whooping cough patients in the Taiwanese community, but because they do not understand the disease and do not seek medical treatment for treatment, the pathogen continues to spread unknowingly, threatening the health of the elderly and newborns.
He reminded that pertussis may be more harmful to the elderly than new coronary pneumonia. About 40% of elderly patients with pertussis will develop complications, and regarding 12% of elderly patients with pertussis are so severe that they require hospitalization. The elderly have lower resistance, so the mortality rate is much higher than that of young children.
In addition to the elderly and young children, Dr. Su Yuyi also recommends that pregnant women be vaccinated once morest whooping cough. This is because newborns cannot be vaccinated until they are 2 months old. Therefore, during the window period before vaccination, they are not resistant to whooping cough. At this time, the mother must be vaccinated once morest whooping cough during pregnancy, and the antibody will be passed on to the newborn through the placenta.
There are elderly and newborns at home, caregivers remember to get vaccinated to protect the whole family
Dr. Su Yuyi appealed that the actual number of confirmed cases of pertussis, which is highly contagious, is seriously underestimated, and the risk of community transmission is difficult to calculate. If there are elderly people or newborn babies in the family, caregivers and the elderly themselves should be vaccinated once morest whooping cough regularly, regarding every 10 years. You can get vaccinated once to protect yourself and your family.
In addition, the staff of medical institutions and care institutions should also regularly administer the whooping cough vaccine to maintain the safety of the care environment and the health of the care recipients.
Text / Lai Yiling, Photos / Su Yuting
Further reading:
Get vaccinated in summer! 6 vaccines for adults, understand the timing of the vaccination
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