Children hospitalized because of increased whooping cough
Currently, the Northern region is in a period of erratic weather changes, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, creating favorable conditions for pathogens to develop, spread and increase the risk of infectious diseases, especially are diseases transmitted through the respiratory tract.
According to information recorded from the national infectious disease surveillance system, from the beginning of 2024 until now, the whole country has sporadically recorded nearly 70 cases of the disease. whooping cough, mainly in some provinces and cities in the Northern region. In addition, many cases of measles, measles-like rash and chickenpox were also reported scattered in many places.
As noted by reporters at the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital, there are currently many pediatric patients with pertussis complications who are being actively cared for and treated by doctors.
While taking care of her 2-month-old daughter, Ms. DQC (Nghe An) said that before going to the hospital, the baby coughed a lot, wheezed, then had a high fever, had phlegm and was crying. Due to an underlying disease (congenital metabolic disorder), the family took the baby to the National Children's Hospital. Here, after examination, the doctors diagnosed that the baby had whooping cough.
According to doctors, children infected with whooping cough are mainly children under 3 months old, those who have not been vaccinated or have just received one dose of pertussis vaccine. Photo: N.Mai
Another case being treated for whooping cough is baby MQ (Cau Giay, Hanoi). The baby's mother said her son was just over 1 month old and had not been vaccinated against whooping cough. The child was admitted to the hospital wheezing, wheezing, refusing to feed and tired.
In addition to the two newborn cases, the Center for Tropical Diseases is also treating a number of older children, including an 2-year-old girl (Gia Lam, Hanoi). According to family members, the child's cough lasted for 11 days. Even though they bought cough suppressants for the child to take, it did not go away. After being hospitalized, diagnosed with whooping cough and treated by doctors, the child's cough decreased and his health gradually stabilized.
Dr. Nguyen Van Lam, Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital, said that from the beginning of the year until now, the Center has received about 40 cases of pertussis. Most patients have complications of pneumonia. Currently, 7 patients with complications are still being monitored and treated here.
"In this year's whooping cough cases, most are children under 3 months old and are all unvaccinated or have just had one injection. There are also a few cases that have had 3 basic injections but have not received a booster. Some cases have not been vaccinated because the child was sick when the vaccination was scheduled“, Dr. Lam said.
According to Dr. Nguyen Van Lam, 2019 is considered a whooping cough outbreak with more than 400 cases hospitalized for treatment. In the years that followed, the number of whooping cough decreased significantly, from just a few to a few dozen cases a year. However, since the beginning of the year until now, the number of pertussis cases has skyrocketed to 40 cases. Of these, Hanoi has 24 cases. This expert further emphasized that this year, the rate of patients with whooping cough has increased sharply and may be equivalent to 2019.
Be careful in children with serious complications due to whooping cough
Dr. Do Thi Thuy Nga, Deputy Head of the Department of General Internal Medicine, Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital, said that whooping cough is an infectious disease that can occur in all ages, especially with a high incidence rate. especially the group of unvaccinated children who have not yet reached vaccination age such as children under 2 months old.
However, at the Center for Tropical Diseases, it is also recorded that about 5-10% of hospitalized children are older children, especially school-aged children. Because this age group has not been vaccinated against whooping cough, the risk of contracting the disease increases.
For example, in the case of the 11-year-old girl above, according to Dr. Nga, the family said they had fully vaccinated the child for the first 2 years of her life. However, there was no booster vaccination after that. This may be a factor that causes children to get sick.
Dr. Nguyen Van Lam, Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital, said that this year the rate of patients with whooping cough has increased sharply, possibly equivalent to 2019. Photo: N.Mai
For patients with whooping cough, according to Dr. Nguyen Van Lam, children often start with coughing attacks, then the cough gradually gets worse, the cough is drooping, there may be purple spots, and breathing stops during the attack. After the cough, the child appears wheezing and wheezing. In some cases, children cough and vomit food and sticky white phlegm, making them very tired and uncomfortable. The cough continues like this, lasting 1, 2 months or even 3 months, causing the child to lose appetite, stop breastfeeding and can cause malnutrition in the child.
Also according to Dr. Nguyen Van Lam, whooping cough is a highly contagious infectious disease that can last more than 20 days if not treated. In case the patient is treated, the transmission rate from one patient to another is only about 5 days. Normally, a course of treatment for whooping cough lasts 7-10 days. After that, treatment will be according to the doctor's prescription. In cases of severe complications, treatment time will last longer.
Accordingly, complications of whooping cough include pneumonia, which can also be caused by whooping cough and can also be caused by superinfection, especially when children inhale food residue, or inhale phlegm back into the lungs. Besides, children may experience pulmonary hypertension or complications of encephalitis or meningitis due to whooping cough. Among them, children under 3 months old are the group with the highest number of complications.
What to do to prevent whooping cough in children?
According to doctors, whooping cough is a dangerous infectious disease but can be prevented with a vaccine. Parents need to give their children the pertussis vaccine when they are 2 months old and get 2 subsequent shots (at 3 and 4 months old), each shot 1 month apart. When the child is 18 months old, give the child a booster shot. Then at 3-5 years old, repeat the nose again.
Children with whooping cough are being treated at the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital. Photo: N.Mai
When you are a teenager or before you give birth, you should also get vaccinated against whooping cough. This not only helps protect the mother but also has the ability to protect the baby at birth, reducing the risk of whooping cough.
According to Dr. Nguyen Van Lam's opinion, whooping cough and some diseases that have preventive vaccines will reappear every 3-5 years for many reasons. Among them, the most subjective is due to incomplete vaccination or due to the subjective awareness of parents "it's okay not to vaccinate".
"The most important thing to prevent infectious diseases that have vaccines is that we must fully vaccinate with basic shots, then repeat vaccinations according to the schedule recommended by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health.", Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital recommended.
In addition to whooping cough vaccination, according to doctors, to protect children's health, parents should teach children to regularly wash their hands with soap and cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing; Keep children's body, nose, and throat clean every day; ensure the house is clean; Limit children's exposure to crowded places, avoid contact with people with respiratory diseases, especially people with whooping cough...
Strengthen the prevention and control of whooping cough and preventable diseases with vaccines
To proactively prevent and combat whooping cough and preventable diseases with vaccines, the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health has sent an Official Dispatch to the Departments of Health of provinces and centrally-run cities requesting localities to increase Strengthen surveillance, testing, and early detection of cases of pertussis and vaccine-prevented diseases in the community and medical examination and treatment facilities; Deploy thorough handling of newly arising outbreaks.
Carry out well the work of collecting, treating, resuscitating patients, controlling infections and preventing cross-infection in medical examination and treatment facilities. Working closely with the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Pasteur analyzed the situation and assessed risks to propose and implement appropriate and timely anti-epidemic measures.
In addition, promote the implementation of regular vaccination for subjects under the EPI Program to ensure safety and effectiveness; Review and organize make-up vaccinations and vaccinations for those who have not been vaccinated or have not received enough vaccinations, especially during periods of interruption in vaccine supply.
Promote communication about the risk of disease and measures to prevent whooping cough and vaccine-preventable diseases so that people can proactively prevent the disease; Encourage families to get their children vaccinated fully and on schedule and encourage vaccination for pregnant women.
In addition, guide educational establishments, especially kindergartens, preschools, and nurseries, to implement disease prevention and control activities such as ensuring cleanliness, classroom ventilation, and adequate lighting. bright; Practice good personal hygiene, regularly wash your hands with soap and clean water; Closely monitor students' health, promptly detect cases with suspected signs of illness and notify medical facilities for timely coordination...
Organize inspection teams and promptly direct disease prevention work, focusing on areas with recorded cases of the disease, localities with low vaccination rates and poor management of vaccination subjects. proactively prevent outbreaks of whooping cough and prevent diseases with vaccines.
