RIVM warns of an increase in whooping cough: 'avoid contact with babies and pregnant women if you sniffle'

The number of whooping cough infections has increased recently, it warns National Institute for Health and Environment (RIVM) Wednesday. Doctors currently diagnose whooping cough in approximately 250 patients per week, of whom approximately 20 are babies and 90 are older children. That is a significant increase compared to before the corona pandemic. In 2019, whooping cough was diagnosed in 120 patients – children and the elderly – per week, and in 2018 an average of 91.

The RIVM is particularly concerned about the increase in whooping cough among babies, who can become seriously ill and, in exceptional cases, die. The RIVM warns that people who “cough and sniffle” should not come into contact with heavily pregnant women and newborn babies. Parents can also protect their child by having them vaccinated against whooping cough. Pregnant women can also take a vaccination themselves during pregnancy.

The increase in the number of infections is particularly noticeable in areas with a low vaccination rate, such as the Bible Belt, where residents are traditionally and religiously skeptical about vaccinations. According to the RIVM, 90 percent of newborns who got whooping cough this year were not vaccinated. Half of these babies required hospitalization.

Corona pandemic

The RIVM believes that the corona pandemic plays a role in the increase in the number of whooping cough infections. Hardly any infections were reported between April 2020 and June 2023, probably because the measures against the coronavirus also helped prevent the spread of whooping cough. The fact that people did not build up immunity against the disease at the time “may explain why we are now seeing such a sharp increase in whooping cough,” according to the RIVM.

Whooping cough is a bacterial respiratory infection and very contagious. Symptoms include colds and severe coughing fits. The coughing can last for weeks to months. Until 1957, the year the whooping cough vaccination was introduced, the disease was common and killed about 200 children every year. Whooping cough has become more common since 1996, according to the RIVM, because the bacterium changed in structure.

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