Rise in whooping cough cases in South Africa

In South Africabetween the beginning of 2022 and September 15, 147 cases of whooping cough were reported, with a steady increase in the number of cases reported since May and a sharp increase from July (n=23 cases) to August (n=33) and September (n=53). These figures are up from the previous two years (169 cases in 2020 and 27 cases in 2021).

Of the 147 cases, 113 (77%) were in children under 5 years old, 89 (79%) of whom were under 3 months old.

Of the 147 cases, 62 (42%) originated from West CapI. While in July and August 2022 the reported cases were evenly distributed across the provinces and matched the numbers reported before the COVID-19 pandemic, in September the majority of cases, 79% (38/48), were from Cape Town. west and the numbers were higher than those reported in that province before the pandemic.

Reminders on the whooping cough

The whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial infection, caused by bacteria, Bordetella pertussis. It remains an endemic disease in all countries, hence the importance of high vaccination coverage to protect infants from severe forms of this disease.

In France, the vaccines available are all acellular vaccines and contain aluminum salts used as an adjuvant to improve the immune response. They differ according to their antigenic composition, the antigens listed below corresponding to proteins which are also virulence factors of the bacterium:

• Two pertussis antigens (pertussis toxoid and filamentous hemagglutinin): acellular Tetravac, Pentavac and Hexion;
• Three pertussis antigens (pertussis toxoid, filamentous hemagglutinin and pertactin): Boostrixtetra, Infanrix hexa, Infanrixquinta and Infanrixtetra;
• Four pertussis antigens (pertussis toxoid, filamentous hemagglutinin, pertactin and fimbriae): Repevax;
• Five whooping cough antigens (pertussis toxoid, filamentous hemagglutinin, pertactin, fimbriae type 2 and 3): Vaxelis.

Source : National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

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