Whooping cough is spreading, high schools on the front lines

“The cases of whooping cough started increasing in the north and east of the country. Now there are cases everywhere. We have already identified 82 in 2024. This week, we are at 21, which is more than last year (18),” Health Inspection Division Head Doctor Dr. Annie Vergison explains.

Like other European countries, the Grand Duchy is facing a wave of whooping cough cases this winter. On Thursday, the health inspection will assign a doctor and four nurses to Ermesinde High School in Mersch, following several cases. Vaccination will be given. “It is not new that we have cases in schools. This year, about twenty were affected, but as soon as they cross a class, we intervene more broadly. This is not the first time we have offered vaccinations on site; We did it last year in middle school. 137 vaccination cards were checked and sixteen children were not in order for vaccination,” clarified the doctor.

“Most of the cases we observe are in children between 10 and 14 years of age, an age where we know we are a little bit short of coverage with this vaccination,” Dr. Vergison continues. Thus, according to the doctor, “whooping cough vaccine provides protection for five to seven years, after which the protection declines very rapidly”. Also with diphtheria, tetanus, polio, the booster occurs at the age of 5-6 years and at the age of 15-16 years.

Young adolescents are therefore a population at risk for whooping cough which, although it can kill children, mainly causes a cough that lasts several weeks. “They call it the 100-day cough. This can sometimes lead to annoying symptoms that can lead to broken ribs in adolescence.”

Faced with a wave of whooping cough and given the exposure of young adolescents, the Higher Council for Infectious Diseases proposed “to bring forward a recall in Luxembourg for children of this age group, who are in the category with cases of whooping cough”.

When there is a case in a class, the health inspector systematically checks the vaccination of all the children and teachers in the class and offers to revaccinate those who are not. Relatively rare, on-site vaccination is chosen “when there are a lot of cases and we have the impression that it is spreading a lot in the school”.

“We first look to see if there is parental consent, without which we cannot vaccinate. And we consult the vaccination card,” Dr. Notes Vergison, who admits that while routine surveys indicate that vaccination coverage among very young children is very high, “There is no concept of coverage beyond infancy. However, there is an impression that “coverage in high school is somewhat lacking, sometimes due to lack of reminders or delays.”