The patient was a few days old and had whooping cough
The Center for Tropical Diseases (National Children's Hospital) is treating a 24-day-old child in Lang Son with whooping cough.
Through medical history, the family learned that 20 days before admission, the patient 's mother had cough symptoms, but did not go to the doctor and still took care of the child. About 1 week before admission, the child had a cough and no fever. After that, the child had many bouts of coughing, his face turned purple and he vomited up a lot of sticky white phlegm, so the family took the child to the National Children's Hospital for examination and treatment. Here, doctors took samples of respiratory fluid for testing. As a result, the child was diagnosed with whooping cough. Currently, after 5 days of treatment, the child's condition has improved significantly, the child's cough has decreased, he can eat and sleep, and is expected to be discharged from the hospital in the next few days.
Dr. Tran Thi Thu Huong - Head of the Department of Day Examination and Treatment, Deputy Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases (Central Children's Hospital) said that from the beginning of July 2024 until now, the Center has received nearly 400 children. If you have whooping cough, come for examination and treatment. In particular, the majority of cases are children under 1 year old who have not been vaccinated or have not received enough vaccination shots. Currently, the Center is treating nearly 40 children with whooping cough, including 1 seriously ill child who needs a ventilator.
According to statistics from the Hanoi Department of Health , last week, there were 7 more cases of whooping cough in the city. Cumulatively from the beginning of 2024 until now, Hanoi has recorded 200 cases of whooping cough in 29 districts, towns and cities; while in the same period last year, no cases were recorded.
The Center for Disease Control of Thua Thien - Hue Province (CDC) said that in the past 2 weeks, the province recorded 5 more suspected cases of whooping cough, of which 2 tested positive. , 2 cases were negative and 1 case had no results. Among these 5 cases, 2 confirmed positive cases are a 3-month-old baby, in Huong Thuy town, vaccinated with newborn hepatitis B, BCG (tuberculosis vaccine) and a 1-month-old baby, in Hue city, who was vaccinated. neonatal hepatitis B vaccination, BCG.
According to data from the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), the country has so far recorded 118 cases, an increase of 6.8 times compared to the same period in 2023.
Dr. Tran Thi Thu Huong said: Whooping cough is an acute respiratory infection, common in young children. The onset of the disease may be no fever or mild fever, upper respiratory tract inflammation, fatigue, loss of appetite and cough. The cough becomes increasingly severe and becomes a paroxysmal cough within 1-2 weeks, lasting 1-2 months or longer. The disease can cause dangerous complications and even death if not detected early and treated promptly.
In addition to the fact that whooping cough has signs and symptoms that are easily confused with other respiratory diseases, especially in infants and young children, another worrying thing is that the disease has a long incubation period, about 1-2 weeks, making it difficult to treat. early recognition, while this is an acute infectious disease with a very high ability to spread. For children under 1 year old infected with whooping cough, the disease progresses very quickly, and in infants the death rate is up to 90%.
The reason whooping cough "reappears"
Dr. Hoang Minh Duc - Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) - commented: "This is a disease that in the coming time may continue to record a number of new cases and outbreaks, especially in places There has been a low vaccination rate for many years and even among children who are not yet of vaccination age."
Pertussis pathogens still circulate in the community. Weather changes are favorable for viruses and infectious bacteria to grow. In addition, pertussis vaccination rates have decreased due to vaccine scarcity in recent times, leading to vaccine gaps, reduced community immunity, and increased epidemics.
Previously, when there was no Expanded Program on Immunization, whooping cough often appeared and became an epidemic in many localities (3-5 year cycle). During epidemics, whooping cough often becomes severe and can easily lead to death due to superinfection, complications of pneumonia, and bronchopneumonia. Since whooping cough was included in the Expanded Program on Immunization, morbidity and mortality rates have decreased significantly, especially in recent years the disease has rarely appeared.
The Ministry of Health has issued a document requesting provinces and cities to strengthen the prevention and control of whooping cough and preventable diseases with vaccines.
