Experts warn

Danger for babies: whooping cough on the rise

Whooping cough can have serious consequences, especially for the youngest children.

(Bild: Miljan Zivkovic - stock.adobe.com)

This year, a striking number of children are falling ill - sometimes seriously - with whooping cough, also known as pertussis. An infection can even be life-threatening, especially in infants and toddlers. How you can best protect your children.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis and is transmitted by droplet infection. The disease is highly contagious. While an infection is less dangerous for healthy adults, it can cause severe respiratory problems with severe coughing attacks in unvaccinated babies or small children and can even be life-threatening. The swollen airways cause the typical wheezing sound when inhaling.

"Whooping cough is very dangerous for babies. They don't necessarily start coughing, but stop drinking and become weak. Breathing stops caused by the infection are then dangerous, especially during sleep. Newborns and infants should be examined for whooping cough whenever they have a supposedly harmless cold," emphasizes OÄ Priv.-Doz. Dr. Ariane Biebl, University Clinic for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Kepler University Hospital Linz (Upper Austria).

Whooping cough is very dangerous for babies. They do not necessarily develop a cough, but stop drinking and become weak. Breathing stops caused by the infection are then dangerous, especially during sleep.

OÄ Priv.-Doz. Dr. Ariane Biebl, Universitätsklinik für Kinder- und Jugendheilkunde am Kepler Universitätsklinikum Linz (OÖ)

Bild: Mathias Lauringer

The disease is often not recognized or only recognized late and adults or older siblings can become carriers unnoticed. Around half of all sick infants are infected in the home.

In order to best protect newborns from infection, experts advise all family members and close contacts to be vaccinated against whooping cough before the child is born. Women are currently recommended to do this during pregnancy in order to give the baby "nest protection".

Vaccination against pertussis

• The early vaccination is administered in the third, fifth and eleventh to twelfth month of life as part of the free vaccination program.
• At school age, a combination vaccination with diphtheria, tetanus and polio is repeated in the seventh to ninth year of life.
• Thereafter, a booster vaccination (combination with diphtheria, tetanus and polio) should be given every ten years up to the age of 60 and every five years from the age of 60.

In unvaccinated people, almost every contact leads to an infection. Vaccination can significantly reduce the risk of infection and also alleviate symptoms in the event of illness. As the effect of immunization wears off after a few years, booster vaccinations are important.