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There has been a “steady increase” in the number of whooping cough cases in Ireland so far this year, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said.
Figures show there were 79 cases of the disease reported in the year up to 5 May, compared to two in the same period in 2023.
There were 11 cases of whooping cough last week according to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
According to the HPSC’s report on infectious diseases, three people were hospitalised with it last week. The previous week, six patients were admitted to hospital with the condition.
“While the number of whooping cough cases in Ireland remains relatively low, there has been a steady increase in 2024,” the HSE said in a statement.
There were 769 cases of whooping cough in Northern Ireland since the start of 2024, which led to a call from the Public Health Agency for parents to get their children vaccinated.
There were just two cases there between 2021 and 2023.
Pertussis, known commonly as whooping cough, is a “highly infectious” bacterial disease that involves the respiratory tract and is caused by bacterium found in the mouth, nose and throat.
Symptoms resemble a common cold and a mild cough, which becomes more severe and is characterised by rapid coughs and a high-pitched whoop.
Young children and infants are most severely affected by whooping cough, although the typical whoop may not develop and instead be followed by apnoea or pauses in breathing.
Vaccination is the best defence against the disease, the HSE has said, with the vaccine recommended during pregnancy.
Protection is also provided in the six-in-one and four-in-one vaccines that are offered to young children.
The HSE has said complications from whooping cough can lead to fatalities, with two in 1,000 people dying from pneumonia or brain damage. It added that almost all deaths are in children under six months old.
Around one in every five people who get whooping cough will need to be hospitalised, it added.
Mayo GP, Scott Walkin, said it is not dangerous for anyone who is “protected with vaccines”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, he said whooping cough “tends to go through phases of higher numbers and lower numbers, usually every three to five years”.
Internationally, he said, the numbers have been going up – in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the UK, and US – and “it’s part of this pattern of waxing and waning – going up and going down that happens and always has happened”.
Dr Walkin said it is “likely” that during the social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was less natural immunity and that because of the “high level of susceptibility, we’re seeing more people becoming a bit sicker with this illness”.
Additional reporting Joan O’Sullivan
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