Whooping cough: serious data have been received about the epidemic

The data published by the National Center for Public Health and Pharmaceuticals on Monday refer to the period between July 22 and 28. According to them, 41 new patients with suspected pertussis were identified, such a high weekly figure was unprecedented this year, so far the previous week’s record was 32 cases.

Everything you need to know about whooping cough can be found in this article:

The microbiological tests carried out supported the clinical diagnosis in the case of 14 people. The diagnostic tests for the other patients are still in progress – read the NNGYK report.

Whooping cough disease its spread at such a rate can meet the criteria of epidemic-like spread. We wrote about this in our article, and last week the NNGYK also acknowledged the new situation.

The cumulative number of suspected cases is already 226 this year.

The graph below clearly shows how special a year we are talking about in terms of whooping cough.

The weekly report also reveals that reports of suspected whooping cough came from the capital and 10 counties (Bács-Kiskun, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Csongrád-Csanád, Fejér, Hajdú-Bihar, Heves, Pest, Somogy, Tolna and Zala) . We have already pointed out that the infection is present in all counties:

It is still true that infection is the most dangerous for the youngest. According to official data, most of these suspected cases are identified among infants, with 15 such cases in the country last week alone, bringing the number of cases among infants to 63 in the first 30 weeks. Babies represent 28% of the total number of cases.

It is no coincidence that the NNGYK issued epidemiological recommendations primarily for their protection. These are worth keeping in mind in the future:

The NNGYK emphatically requests that in the first 6-8 weeks after the birth, they do not visit with the newborn, avoid crowded places, and limit the reception of visitors to the newborn. The newborn’s immune system is still partially unprotected against environmental influences and infections.

The booster vaccination is recommended for expectant mothers, because it also protects the newborn.

The NNGYK draws the public’s attention to the fact that vaccination is also recommended for family members living in the same household as the baby and those involved in the baby’s care. Currently, the vaccine required for revaccination against whooping cough is available to pharmacies with nationwide coverage, and the availability of the vaccine is constantly monitored by the authority.

In the past few days, we have asked the epidemiologic authority whether new steps are being planned in light of the new situation. We are looking for answers to the following questions, among others:

• Are they planning to not only recommend the vaccination to a population group, but to make it mandatory for certain groups, e.g. who take care of babies professionally, i.e. for health workers? If vaccination is not made mandatory for them, will it be issued to them as a recommendation? If so, when will this take place?
• What other recommendations have been made for health care facilities that care for infants who have not yet been vaccinated against whooping cough, or may have such infants in certain wards?
• Are there plans to issue new recommendations due to the rapid spread of whooping cough, even regarding vaccinations?