The Ministry of Health announced today (Monday) that an unvaccinated 10-week-old baby from the Jerusalem district died of whooping cough about three weeks ago.
The baby developed symptoms of the disease at the age of five weeks, and was hospitalized after about two weeks. An epidemiological investigation revealed that the baby's mother was not vaccinated during pregnancy. All of the baby's contacts were examined and preventive treatment was given. The case was reported to the county health bureau.
The vaccine, given to infants from the age of six weeks, provides protection against a number of diseases, including pertussis and polio. The Ministry of Health also recommends that pregnant women in the third trimester receive a whooping cough vaccine and protect their children.
In recent months, there has been an outbreak of whooping cough, mainly in Jerusalem. According to data from the Ministry of Health, 164 cases of whooping cough have been diagnosed so far this year, compared with six cases in the same period last year.
Prof. Tzachi Grossman, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Just last week, the chairman of the Association of Pediatrics, Prof. Tzachi Grossman, initiated an urgent appeal to the Minister of Health and the Director General of the Ministry following an outbreak of whooping cough in Jerusalem, saying: "We call on the Ministry to act quickly and decisively in the face of the data and strongly demand the immediate activation of vaccination mobility, focusing on ultra-Orthodox populations and communities, which are characterized by overcrowding and the risk of infection among many children from the same family. pertussis can cause suffocation, respiratory insufficiency, and even death. It is the duty of all of us to mobilize and prevent the death of a child from whooping cough."
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