Thus, since 2023, the incidence of whooping cough has been increasing in Ukraine. In the first two months of 2024, 515 cases of the disease were recorded, while during the same period last year only 27 cases were recorded. 95.9% of all cases are children, the majority are children of preschool and early school age.
Why is whooping cough dangerous?
As the Ministry of Health notes, whooping cough is highly contagious and easily spreads from person to person through airborne droplets when coughing or sneezing.
Whooping cough is most dangerous for infants, in whom it can cause apnea – a temporary stop in breathing. In addition, in newborns and infants the disease can be severe, with a high risk of complications and death.
Older children and adults usually recover from whooping cough, but the disease is debilitating and greatly weakens the body.
Symptoms:
- the disease begins like a common cold, but after 5-8 days a paroxysmal spasmodic cough appears;
- cough may be accompanied by fever, runny nose and other signs of acute respiratory viral infection;
- in infants, a cough may not appear, but they may stop breathing for a short time;
- recovery begins after 4-8 weeks, and sometimes from 2 to 6 months.
How to prevent whooping cough
All children should receive 4 vaccinations: at 2, 4, 6 and 18 months. If for any reason you missed vaccinations, catch up as quickly as possible.
Pregnant women should also be vaccinated against whooping cough between 16 and 32 weeks of pregnancy, regardless of whether they were vaccinated as children.
