“Finland will follow” – Whooping cough is now spreading across Europe – 2024-05-07 00:09:59

Whooping cough is most dangerous for children under six months of age. Mostphotos

The number of positive whooping cough samples has increased in the Helsinki region in recent weeks, says Hus’ director of diagnostics Lasse Lehtonen.

– At the end of April, there were 40 of these positive whooping cough samples per week, while at the beginning of the year there were 3-4 per week, he says.

Lehtonen points out that the number of samplings has also clearly increased, which is naturally reflected in the number of positive samples.

Lehtonen also wrote about it on his X account on Saturday morning.

Lehtonen says in X that a whooping cough sampling point will be opened in the Tullinpuomi laboratory in Helsinki. Lehtonen also mentions that sixth-grade students at Haaga elementary school have possibly been exposed to the disease.

Finland will follow

Lehtonen says that there is always a bit of whooping cough on the move. The bacterium has not disappeared from the population, but vaccine protection keeps it under control. According to him, small local epidemics typically occur every few years.

Turku Sanomat reported on Monday that in the Varsinais-Finland region, cases of whooping cough have been increasing among children aged 10-14, their siblings and young adults.

Interviewed by TS, an infectious disease doctor for Varha children in the welfare area of ​​Varsinais-Finland Paula Tähtinen says that there have been dozens of cases of whooping cough, especially in Turku and nearby municipalities. However, Tähtinen says that a particularly large number of cases have not been identified.

According to Lehtonen, there are currently more whooping coughs in Northern Europe than in years. The disease has therefore become more common elsewhere than in Finland.

– There has been a very bad epidemic in the Czech Republic. The number of cases in Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands has also clearly increased. Finland is now following.

Appears in the statistics of the whole country with a delay

Lehtonen says that there is not yet any major health problem in Finland. However, there is a clear increase in the number of cases.

THL’s. in the figures collected for the whole country, no change has yet been seen regarding whooping cough. Lehtonen points out that the cases may show up in the statistics with a delay. Even in Helsinki, cases only started appearing at the end of April, so the change in whooping cough cases for the whole country may only be visible in the next reports.

However, Lehtonen anticipates that there is no question of any big leap.

Reason

Lehtonen says that no single reason can be given for the increase in whooping cough cases. However, he says that, for example, one of the reasons for the epidemic in the Czech Republic is that the coverage of booster vaccines for children has been lower than it should be.

– I myself do not have accurate information on how well Finnish school-aged children have received booster vaccinations, he says.

A typical pertussis patient in Finland has been a teenager.

– If the vaccinations have not been taken, we are susceptible to the disease. In addition, of course, school children are in groups where the disease spreads easily.

Symptoms

According to THL, whooping cough is an upper respiratory tract infection caused by Bordetella pertussis-bacterial. The disease occurs in people of all ages, but the most dangerous disease is in children under six months of age.

A typical symptom of whooping cough is a spasmodic, congestive cough lasting up to several weeks. Coughing bouts occur especially at night, and they can also end in mucus vomiting.

Inhalation can also become difficult. Between coughing bouts, the patient may be mildly symptomatic and in good health.

Lasse Lehtonen says that if a cough develops, it is better to treat it immediately. Whooping cough causes mucosal damage to the bronchial tubes, which can maintain the cough for weeks if the disease is not treated in time.

– It’s good to get it taken care of right from the start, so that it doesn’t go to waste when you cough, Lehtonen says.