Up to 11 cases of whooping cough have been detected in recent weeks at the INS Alpicat (Lleida). The Health Department has confirmed to La Vanguardia that the first affected person was detected on November 30 and that, since then, 11 cases have been recorded, as the newspaper Segre has reported. These same sources report that the 11 affected are well and that Public Health is applying the corresponding protocol, which includes notifying the families of the students of the entire class of those affected to go to the CAP in case of coughing.
There is a vaccine, included in the vaccination schedule and recommended for all children, to prevent this pathology. However, it is not completely effective, and although it is not common, immunized children can also suffer from the disease. That is why it is recommended to review and update the child's vaccine status.
The pathology is caused by a microbe, called Bordetella pertussis, which causes laryngotracheobronchitis “one of the strongest there is,” explains Xavier Miró, pediatrician at the Disset de Setembre basic health area, in El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona), to this newspaper. ).
Normally, the pathology is expressed by a very continuous and paroxysmal cough (violent and uncontrollable) that grows in intensity, especially at night. It can be dangerous if it affects an infant (under two months), but not in children or adolescents. “The problem is that an outbreak arises and someone infected comes into contact with a baby less than two months old,” argues Miró.
As a treatment for those affected, an antibiotic from the macrolide family is dispensed. Specifically, azithromycin. “It can be taken for three days but, in this case, I would prescribe it for five consecutive days,” Miró points out.
This pediatrician argues that those affected should stay at home and their contacts should also be treated with azithromycin. If the patient - he continues - develops an additional bronchitis crisis, a bronchodilator can be prescribed.
Miró understands that it would be prudent for patients to wait a minimum of two weeks (from when they were diagnosed) to return to school (in this case the Christmas holidays will be involved). And not only to prevent them from infecting their colleagues, but because the affected person is somewhat fragile after suffering from whooping cough.
“It is bronchitis that produces greater inflation of the bronchial tissue. It is very inflammatory,” says Miró, who explains that, on a relatively recurrent basis, outbreaks of whooping cough appear. “There are few cases because the vaccination rate is very high, but from time to time there are very localized outbreaks,” he concludes.
