“We thought the epidemic would slow down, but that's still not the case”: whooping cough doesn't take a summer vacation

Ecouvillon et test PCR : la coqueluche est détectée avec les mêmes techniques que le Covid, ce mardi 30 juillet à Labosud. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

In an inventory at the end of July, Public Health France confirmed that the circulation of the bacteria causing whooping cough is still very active, it has killed 28 people since January. The laboratories of the Inovie group, very present in the south of France, still carry out 1600 tests per week in Hérault, Gard and Bouches-du-Rhône, one in five is positive. A surprise for Guillaume Teissier, CEO of Inovie Labosud.

"Whooping cough is still very present in the territory, and the Bordetella pertussis bacterium continues to circulate in all regions", in a "more intense way in recent months" : in an inventory dated July 29 and published this Tuesday, July 30, Santé publique France indicates that the whooping cough epidemic is still very active.

The medical biology group Inovie, mainly based in the south of France, confirms: “Since the beginning of July, 1,600 tests have been carried out per week in Hérault, Gard and Bouches-du-Rhône, one in five is positive”, specifies Dr. Guillaume Teissier, CEO of Inovie-Labosud, which increased its screening capacity in June by opening PCR analysis lines on each technical platform, in “Montpellier, Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand”, but also Paris. 

A diagnosis is made in 24 hours, compared to about ten days last month. Essential to break the dynamics of the epidemic: “The faster we diagnose, the faster we put antibiotic therapy in place, the lower the contagiousness and the risk of contamination”.

In Occitanie, thirty visits to the emergency room each week

This figure is not so far from last year's total figure, 1,900 tests analyzed for Hérault, Gard and Bouches-du-Rhône in 2023.

In Occitanie, “unavailable data consolidated” of the Oscour network in July, indicate that the weekly number of visits to the emergency room for whooping cough is around thirty people, as in the Grand-Est, compared to 40 in Paca and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 50 in Ile-de-France, for the most impacted regions. Knowing that “infants under 6 months are the most affected by serious forms, hospitalizations but also deaths”.

“Between January 1st and July 24th, a cumulative number of 199 infants under 12 months hospitalized for whooping cough was reported, 79% of whom were under 6 months old”. Two babies from Occitanie died in June.

For adults “whooping cough was not the leading cause of death”

The epidemic began in the first quarter of 2024, and has been particularly active “in seven regions, Ile-de-France, Brittany, Pays de Loire, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, Grand-Est, Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine, which reported more than twenty clusters in communities, mainly nursery and primary schools, daycare centers and nursery homes, middle and high schools, or family clusters, with a majority of cases who were not up to date with their vaccinations”, recalls Santé publique France.

Over the first six months of the year, “all indicators are already higher than the total for the year 2023", based on data from the SOS Médecins, Oscour (emergency), Renacoq (pediatric hospitalization), Sentinelles (general practitioner), 3labos and CNR (medical biology) networks.

Whooping cough has already killed 28 people in 2024, including 9 in July, the deadliest month. Children are paying the heaviest price for the epidemic: 20 deaths, including 12 children under 2 months, 4 infants were unvaccinated and two of them had unvaccinated mothers.

Labosud installed new automated lines in June. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

One in four tests is now positive. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

The PCR test gives its verdict in 24 hours. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Indicators that clearly show that the test is positive. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Doctor Guillaume Teissier: “We had almost forgotten this disease”

“Over the first six months of 2024, the number of positive PCR tests, set at 22,556, has increased 313-fold compared to the first six months of 2023 (72 positive PCRs)”, indicates Sant&eacute public France, which reports a constant increase in positive tests over the months.

Dr. Guillaume Teissier, CEO of the Inovie Labosud group, has also seen since the beginning of the summer, “an increase in the number of requests and positivity rates”. One in four tests is positive.

A surprise for the biologist: “We had almost forgotten about this disease, we had few requests. In April and May, we had a lot of requests. They have exploded since the beginning of June, and the figures from the beginning of this week are comparable to those from last week. We thought that with the end of school, the number of infections from this disease, which is transmitted by coughing, would decrease. This is not the case.

The tests, carried out using swabs that have been well-known since the Covid epidemic, are performed on prescription and are covered by Social Security. Main indications: coughing for less than three weeks, being vaccinated for more than three years, or having an unknown vaccination status.

“Some patients have been vaccinatedés", specifies Dr. Teissier, "the vaccine protects mainly against severe forms".

In France, barely 66.8% of mothers of infants have up-to-date vaccination coverage against whooping cough, while "the protection of newborns and young infants relies on the vaccination of the future mother during her pregnancy". For children, 91.4% of babies born in 2022 received the three doses necessary.

The 8 other victims are "adults aged 51 to 86", "whooping cough was not the leading cause of death", established Santé publique France.

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