A whooping cough that caused respiratory failure. These would be the reasons that led to the death of Andrea Vincenzi, a footballer for Gassino San Raffaele, who died at the age of 12 on the night of February 22nd, after having been discharged three times in 48 hours from the emergency room of the Chivasso hospital (Turin). ). The news was reported by La Stampa.
Doctor Alessandro Marchesi, a consultant appointed by the Ivrea prosecutor’s office, writes in his report that the Chivasso emergency room did not notice the whooping cough. Marchesi recommends further counseling.
The consultant writes, as reported by La Stampa:
“A specialist integration by a consultant specialized in pediatrics is considered appropriate in order to evaluate the adequacy of the clinical management of the minor during visits to the Chivasso emergency room”.
In Italy there are more and more cases of children who are not vaccinated against whooping cough. From the beginning of the year to May 10th, in Italy there were over 100 hospitalizations for whooping cough in children under two years of age and 3 deaths. This is the data that emerges from an analysis published in Eurosurveillance, the magazine of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. “After the Covid-19 pandemic, the resurgence of whooping cough in Europe from late 2023 represents a pressing public health concern,” the study authors write.
The investigation involved 11 hospitals distributed throughout the national territory (1 respectively in Pavia, Milan and Florence, 2 in Palermo, 3 in Rome and Naples). Overall, in the first part of the year there were 108 hospitalizations recorded, with a drastic increase compared to the previous two years: there were 5 in the whole of 2022 and 12 in 2023. Almost half (49) of the national hospitalizations occurred in Naples , a third (32) in Palermo. Most cases occurred in children less than 4 months old. Three children died from complications of whooping cough: one was 15 days old, one 25, one 30.
The study confirms the lack of attention to vaccination. About a third of the children, despite falling within the age group eligible for vaccination, had not received the vaccine. Just over 18% had not yet completed the vaccination course while around 8% contracted the disease despite being vaccinated. The majority of children (around 40%), however, were too young to receive the vaccination, which is carried out at 3, 5 and 11 months. These could have benefited from maternal vaccination during pregnancy, however, only 5% of mothers for whom information was available chose to be vaccinated. Almost 80% did not receive information on the possibility of getting vaccinated during pregnancy.
