A four-month-old baby with whooping cough was hospitalized in critical condition in the pediatric intensive care unit at Assuta Ashdod Hospital last week. The baby was suffering from severe coughing and breathing difficulties – to the point of turning blue – before being hospitalized on Wednesday. Since then, his breathing issues have improved but he is still in the PICU due to his severe cough. There has been an increase in cases of whooping cough in babies and toddlers in Israel since February. Last month, a ten-week-old infant from Jerusalem passed away from the disease. The hospital issued a statement emphasizing that vaccination of the mother during pregnancy for whooping cough would have prevented the current situation. Dr. Noa Rosenfeld, director of the PICU at the hospital and the attending physician, said: “The pertussis (whooping cough) vaccines are extremely important and life-saving. The younger the baby, the higher the chances of death, and the severe damage to the brain and heart is irreversible. I call on all parents not to take risks and get all the required vaccinations before and after birth.” Dr. Maya Heled-Akiva, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Assuta, said: “Whooping cough is a disease caused by a bacterium and can be prevented by the routine vaccinations and immunization of the mother during pregnancy. The pertussis bacterium attacks the respiratory system and causes coughing fits in children and adults that last for many weeks and even several months.” “In newborns and babies, it can cause very serious illness and even death. One out of five babies with whooping cough under the age of two months will be hospitalized and one out of 100 babies under the age of two months with whooping cough will die from the complications of the disease.” “The antibiotic treatment administered upon diagnosis does not significantly change the course of the disease and therefore vaccination and prevention of the disease is extremely important.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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