People over 65 are also affected by whooping cough and sometimes even hospitalized. Experts recommend that they get vaccinated for themselves, and to protect their small children.
Whether they are home-grown or hyperactive, specialists in homemade pastries or rather fans of long journeys, grandparents today often occupy a special place in the lives of their grandchildren. “Mom, could you pick them up from school?” Dad, I have no one to bring the big guy to judo. Honey, could your parents take the kids on the next vacation? ”
In the list of services that are sometimes asked of grandparents, young parents should perhaps also consider asking them to be vaccinated against whooping cough to protect their little ones. While, until now, little scientific data was available on the incidence of this disease in seniors, a recent study reveals that it is not only present in those over 65, but that it can sometimes have serious consequences on their health.
Australian researchers have indeed followed more than 260,000 people aged 62.8 years on average between 2006 and 2008. They observed 205 cases of pertussis, but the most worrying is that the over 65 were those in who had the greatest risk of being hospitalized. In addition, these researchers have succeeded in identifying among the elderly, subgroups particularly at risk of contracting whooping cough.
Listen to Prof. Marlène Murris-Espin, pulmonologist at Toulouse University Hospital: ” Older people who are obese, with a BMI over 30, and asthmatics are more at risk of having whooping cough. “
These results suggest that vaccination against pertussis could therefore be an effective means of protecting seniors from the risk of complications. On the one hand, it would give them individual protection, but it would also allow collective protection. Some experts already recommend vaccinating the elderly, just like parents or siblings, in particular to protect infants under 3 months of age who have not yet received the 3 recommended primary vaccination injections.
Because it is this lack of respect for vaccine reminders in adults that is one of the causes of contamination in babies. In 2011, the National Institute for Public Health Surveillance noted 76 cases of pertussis in babies under six months. Almost all of them were hospitalized, nearly a third of whom were in intensive care. In infants less than 2 months old, this disease remains the 1time cause of death from bacterial infection. When grandparents come into contact with infants, experts advocate that they too go through the pertussis vaccination box.
Listen to Prof. Marlène Murris-Espin: ” Even if they have been vaccinated in the past, older people can get whooping cough. Even when you have already had the disease, you are only protected for 12 to 15 years. ”
The High Council of Public Health already recommends vaccination against whooping cough for all adults with a parental plan as well as for the family circle who during a pregnancy. As a reminder, a primary vaccination is done at 2.3 and 4 months of life, then a first booster occurs around 18 months, another between 11 and 13 years. Then in adults, a new booster is recommended every 10 years, including … for grandparents.
.
