RIVM concerned about increase in whooping cough in babies

The number of newborns with severe cases of whooping cough has risen sharply in recent weeks. Doctors are now diagnosing around 110 children with whooping cough every week, including around 20 infants, the RIVM reports. The increase is particularly noticeable in areas with low vaccination coverage, such as the Bible Belt.

The RIVM is particularly concerned about this group of infants as they can become very ill from whooping cough and often end up in hospital. Sometimes a baby dies from the disease.

"For example, babies can stop breathing, which can cause oxygen deficiency and brain damage," Tjalling Leenstra, head of the national coordination of infectious disease control at the RIVM, told NOS. Currently, the RIVM has no reports of children who have died from whooping cough.

More than 90 percent of babies with whooping cough were not protected by a vaccination. About half of these infants were hospitalized. Therefore, women are advised to be vaccinated against the disease during their pregnancy so that the baby already carries antibodies.

Whooping cough is caused by a bacterium and is highly contagious. The bacterium produces a toxin that causes severe coughing fits. This cough can last for several weeks to months.

The number of reported cases of whooping cough has been increasing since June last year and is much higher than in previous years, both in children and adults. Currently, around 250 patients with whooping cough are reported every week. In 2019, there were 120 per week, and 91 the year before. The RIVM suspects that the number of infections is actually higher because not everyone with whooping cough symptoms is tested.

The RIVM believes that one possible reason for the current rapid spread of whooping cough is the coronavirus pandemic. During the period in which people had less contact with each other, whooping cough was also transmitted less frequently. The number of whooping cough cases remained remarkably low between April 2020 and June 2023. "As a result, immunity has also decreased and the disease is now catching up, so to speak," says a spokesperson for the institute.