Emergency whooping cough. The Italian Society of pediatrics warned of a significant increase in cases of illness in Italy and in Europe, inviting them pregnant women to get vaccinated in order to protect the newborn.
Data on whooping cough cases in Italy
In Italy and throughout Europe there is a serious increase in cases of whooping cough, a bacterial and very contagious disease that can be extremely dangerous for children, especially for newborns.
The ECDC, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, has released some alarming data a few days ago which speak of 60 thousand cases between 2023 and April 2024, a growth of more than 10 times compared to 2022 data.
Testing for whooping cough in Croatia at the end of 2023
Hospitalizations in Italy have increased by 800%, which mostly involved newborns aged between 4 months and one year. The solution to stop this epidemic is the parental vaccine.
The pediatricians’ appeal for vaccines
There Italian Society of Paediatrics has issued a statement in which it reminds of the possibility for pregnant women to be vaccinated against whooping cough in order to protect the newborn before it can in turn undergo the vaccination:
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“Whooping cough is a highly contagious and dangerous disease, especially in the first months of life and in newborns who are older risk of complications and death. We can protect this particularly vulnerable population through the immunization of mothers during the second and third trimester of pregnancy, which is highly safe and effective in protecting children who are still too young to be vaccinated” said the president of the Italian Society of Paediatrics, Annamaria Staiano.
“We invite the pregnant women to get vaccinated against whooping cough because the lives of our little ones are at stake. It is unacceptable that in 2024 we could die from infectious diseases for which effective and safe vaccines exist” he then concluded
The whooping cough vaccine
The whooping cough vaccine is one of those part of the so-called hexavalent, which also protects against other diseases such as: tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis B, poliomyelitis and haemophilus influenzae type B.
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It is generally given to children within one year of life, with a second dose to do between 5 and 6 years and finally a recall between 14 and 15 to ensure the protection of the minor.
The vaccine is recommended by the guidelines up to the third month of age newborn. This would allow us to avoid risks during the first year of life, when the disease is most dangerous.
Photo source: Ansa
