Whooping cough

Whooping cough in Russia

2023: The incidence of whooping cough in Russia has increased in a maximum of 30 years

Russia In 2023, 52,783 cases of pertussis were registered, which is 15 times higher than in 2022. More infected were noted only in 1993 - then pertussis was diagnosed in 74,463 people. Data on the record incidence of pertussis for 30 years Rospotrebnadzor was released at the end of May 2024.

According to Rospotrebnadzor, a surge in morbidity was observed everywhere, in all regions of the country, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. At the same time, 92% of all recorded cases of whooping cough fell on the child population under the age of 17. At the same time, in individual medical institutions and pharmacy chains there is a shortage of one of the main vaccines for the prevention of this disease - "Pentaxime."

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Many polyclinics report the absence of a drug, private clinics have to knock out 10-20 doses, no more, and then with a certain luck, "says Antonina Oblasova, head of the Collective Immunity ANO.

According to experts, the surge in the incidence of pertussis is caused by a number of factors, including the mutation of the pathogen, which has become more aggressive and resistant to vaccines. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a decrease in the coverage of routine immunization of children, also played a negative role. In addition, an uncontrolled flow of migrants from countries where pertussis vaccinations are not given poured into Russia in 2023.

The head of the Research Center of Moscow State University for the Prevention and Treatment of Viral Infections Georgy Vikulov believes that the Ministry of Health needs to launch a large-scale information campaign designed to convince the population of the need for vaccination.

Experts agree that a radical fracture can be expected no earlier than 2026, when collective immunity to whooping cough will form in society. To do this, however, mass immunization will be required not only for children, but also for adults - it is not planned to start such events yet.^[1]

2021: The incidence has decreased by 5 times

In 2021 Russia , 1108 cases of whooping cough were registered (of which 1013 were children) against 6069 (5691 children) a year earlier. Such data Rosstat were released at the end of May 2022.

As noted Sheets by "," the incidence of whooping cough decreased sharply in 2020-2021. compared to the indicators of 2018-2019 (before the start of the pandemic coronavirus COVID-19). So, according to Rosstat estimates, in 2018, 10,423 people fell ill with whooping cough in Russia (9963 - under the age of 17), in 2019 - 14,409 people (13,537 children).

Marina Fedoseenko, a member of the Union of Pediatricians of Russia, head of the department for the development of scientific approaches to immunization at the Central Clinical Hospital of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also linked the drop in the incidence rate with lockdowns. She expects a surge in morbidity "due to a return to the usual living conditions of our society." Fedoseenko believes that "when returning to normal conditions," the only way to prevent an increase in morbidity is vaccination.

As stated on the website of Rospotrebnadzor in May 2022, pertussis is especially severe in children of the first months of life - with respiratory arrest, seizures, brain damage; the consequences of pertussis can be chronic bronchitis, delayed psychomotor development, neurosis, blindness, deafness and paralysis.

In May 2022, the All-Russian Union of Patients appealed to the Ministry of Health with a request to speed up the introduction of vaccination against meningococcal infection and revaccination against whooping cough into the National Calendar of Preventive Vaccinations (NCPP), according to which the NCPP intends to vaccinate once by the end of May 2022. Vaccine purchases for NCPP are carried out at the expense of the federal budget, but regions can also purchase vaccines and form vaccination calendars.

The Ministry of Health reported that the expansion of the NCPP is carried out in accordance with the Strategy for the Development of Immunoprophylaxis of Infectious Diseases until 2035. The roadmap for this document says that in November 2022, the study of the issue of immunization against pertussis of older children and adults will begin.^[2]

2020

In the Russian Federation for 2020, whooping cough remains an important problem for healthcare, given the following factors:

The incidence of whooping cough in Russia has been growing since 2008, which indicates an epidemic disadvantage for this infection. The incidence of pertussis in Russia in 2019 (in comparison with 2018) increased almost 1.4 times. In children under 14 years old, the increase in incidence in 2019 was 33%.

In the structure of the incidence of managed infections in the Russian Federation, whooping cough occupies one of the leading places, despite the high vaccination coverage in children of the first years of life. Pertussis sources are patients with clinically pronounced and erased forms of infection. Upon contact with them, the disease develops in 90% of the susceptible contingent.

Pertussis acquires the most severe course in infants: complications are more common at this age, and the risk of death is high. According to international data, the main sources of whooping cough for children of the 1st year of life are: siblings (35.5%), parents (30.6%), as well as grandparents (14%).

A feature of whooping cough in 2020 is the shift in incidence to older age groups. Numerous epidemiological studies show that post-vaccination immunity to pertussis fades within an average of 5-8 years after the last vaccination of 18 months, and by the lower school age, susceptibility to infection returns. Therefore, children 7-14 years old occupy a leading place in the structure of morbidity and are one of the main sources of pertussis infection in children of the 1st year of life. The medical community regularly emphasizes the importance of giving revaccinations to children against pertussis at ages 6-7 and 14, and in adults (18 and older) every 10 years from the time of the last revaccination.

Vaccination

According to Rospotrebnadzor estimates for 2020, the primary vaccination against whooping cough in Russia was made in more than 95% of the population, and the increase in incidence is due to the fact that many Russians forget or do not know at all about the need for revaccination at an older age (children of preschool-school age, adolescents, adults).

Post-vaccination immunity to whooping cough fades on average within 5-8 years after the last vaccination.

According to the expanded immunization program of the World Health Organization for 2020, vaccination of children against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis is included in the vaccination program (calendar) of most countries of the world. In many countries, vaccination calendars provide for the following:

• 1st revaccination against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (usually in the 2nd year of life),
• 2nd revaccination against the same infections in preschool age,
• 3rd revaccination - in adolescence, as well as planned revaccinations of adults.

In countries providing revaccination of adults against pertussis, it is carried out either every 10 years (simultaneously with revaccination against diphtheria and tetanus), or once in a lifetime (one of the revaccinations against diphtheria and tetanus is replaced with revaccination against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis with a vaccine containing the acellular pertussis component Tdap).

Of course, the vaccination calendar of any country is compiled based on the epidemiological situation in a given country, the availability of specific vaccines in the country and the financial ability to provide these vaccines to the population.

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