Over the first five months of 2024, there are already more than ten times more cases of whooping cough in France (5,854) than over the whole of 2023. This “sharp increase” worries the national reference center (CNR), depends on the Pasteur Institute: “for example, more than 1,400 cases confirmed by PCR tests were detected in April 2024 and more than 3,000 in May 2024 compared to 495 cases in all of 2023.”
Last April, Public Health France had already mentioned this resurgence which is not specific to France but is observed in Europe and the rest of the world. “Like all infectious diseases, whooping cough evolves in cycles and this year, there is an epidemic peak,” estimates Jean Sarlangue, pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Bordeaux University Hospital. It’s an unusual year but not catastrophic.”
A link with the Covid-19 epidemic?
“The epidemiology of whooping cough generally follows a cyclical pattern of three to five years, with the latest peaks having occurred in 2012-2013 and 2017-2019,” specifies the CNR. The current resurgence of whooping cough could be expected, but it is particularly intense. » “It is possible that the difference between 2023 and 2024 is due to the precautions taken during the Covid-19 epidemic with a time lag: barrier gestures have been effective against many respiratory infections,” says the doctor. Jean Sarlangue.
Insufficient vaccination coverage
The CNR, for its part, mentions effective vaccines, certainly, but whose protection is limited in time. This is why regular reminders are necessary. The CNR particularly emphasizes “the vaccination of pregnant women (weeks 20 to 36) in order to protect young infants before the first vaccination at two months”. Doctor Sarlangue sees two advantages: “the mother will not be contagious to her baby and she will transmit her antibodies to her baby, before he himself is vaccinated. »
The vaccination coverage rate for adults, the elderly and pregnant women is insufficient in France. “It’s painful to cough for two months but it can be dramatic to contaminate a baby,” says Doctor Jean Sarlangue who insists: “we must protect them by vaccinating ourselves and if we have symptoms, we take antibiotics to avoid not contaminate others. » Because contamination by a family member (parents, siblings, grandparents) of an infant is always a dramatic event and can lead to death. “A baby under six months who contracts whooping cough cannot eat and must be hospitalized for at least three weeks,” the pediatrician further reminds.
Whooping cough doesn’t just affect children
Keen, however, to avoid any alarmism, Jean Sarlangue specifies that mortality linked to whooping cough remains very low in France, i.e. less than ten deaths per year. However, it is good to remember that everyone is concerned, the disease, which is extremely contagious, does not only affect children: “when an adult has been coughing for a week, it is necessary to check that it is not whooping cough. This is the case in 20% of alerts. » The cough can then last for a month or two, particularly at night, and can really poison our lives.