SAN FRANCISCO: Public health officials warn that whooping cough poses the greatest risk to young children as California deals with its worst outbreak of the respiratory disease since 2010, with nearly 3,500 reported victims so far this year.
“Prevention of pertussis is particularly important in young infants because they are the ones at risk for severe disease and death,” Dr. Gil Chavez, state epidemiologist and deputy director of the California Department of Public Health, said.
Infants, in particular, are the most vulnerable to the disease which causes severe, uncontrollable spasms of coughing that can make breathing difficult, and public health officials urged parents to make sure their youngsters are properly vaccinated.
Vaccines also are recommended for pregnant women and adults who have increased contact with young children. California public health officials said on Friday whooping cough, also known as pertussis, has reached epidemic proportions in the state.
More than 800 cases have been confirmed statewide in the first two weeks of June alone, with Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties near San Francisco Bay reporting the highest rates of infection per capita. The highly contagious bacterial infection strikes 30 million and 50 million people each year worldwide and kills about 300,000 annually, mostly children in the developing world.
In the United States, where outbreaks tend to run in cycles, most children are immunised against pertussis with a vaccine given as a series of shots beginning as early as six weeks of age. Pregnant women should get the vaccine in their third trimester because antibodies will be passed on to their newborns, Chavez said. AFP
