159 cases of whooping cough have already been reported In Flanders this year. The figure is significantly up on the situation before the pandemic. It’s especially in the provinces of Flemish Brabant and Antwerp that the number of reports is rising, the health department warns. Whooping cough can be dangerous and even deadly for children under 1 year old.
So far this year the health department has already counted 159 reports of whooping cough. In the years before the corona pandemic, an average of less than 1,000 whooping cough cases per year were reported. That works out at 80 a month. It is especially in Antwerp (46) and Flemish Brabant (57) that there are more cases than in previous years.
Most cases occur in children aged between 4 and 9 years. The protection from vaccinations as a baby then begins to wane. "For these children, whooping cough is not that dangerous, but they can infect their younger siblings, who are very vulnerable and prone to complications," health officials say.
So far this year sixteen infants have been diagnosed with whooping cough and 10 of them were hospitalised.
Vaccination
Vaccination remains crucial, health officials say. It is strongly recommended for children from the age of eight weeks and during any pregnancy. The rest of the family should also get vaccinated if more than 10 years has lapsed since the last vaccination. Vaccination against whooping cough is part of the basic vaccination schedule in Flanders and is free for children and adults.
Whooping cough is an acute bacterial infectious disease of the respiratory tract. Coughing, sneezing and talking introduce the bacteria into the air and that is how you can become infected. In infants and newborns, symptoms sometimes differ to include poor eating, difficulty breathing and turning blue.