Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Wednesday reported the first case of whooping cough in two years and encouraged children and infants to get vaccinated against the potentially fatal disease.
A junior high school student was diagnosed on Tuesday with whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by bacteria, the first recorded case in Taiwan since 2021, the CDC said in a news release Wednesday.
The boy developed symptoms including a sore throat, cough, fever, chest pain, and headache on Sept. 20, which persisted even after seeking medical attention, the CDC said.
The teenager was subsequently admitted to hospital on Oct. 6, the CDC said.
His condition is improving and he is in a stable situation, the CDC added.
According to the CDC, the patient had been inoculated with five doses of the DTP-HB-Hib, known as the five-in-one vaccine, a combination vaccine used to prevent diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenza B, prior to falling ill.
One of the boy’s four other family members, who developed a cough, was given medication. It is not yet certain whether the individual was also infected, the CDC said.
Meanwhile, local health authorities have traced 44 close contacts of the boy, none of whom have developed similar symptoms, according to the CDC.
The CDC called on pregnant women and people who babysit infants or young kids to get one shot of the five-in-one vaccine at their own expense to protect preschool children who are at risk of severe symptoms after infections.
Whooping cough can have serious and life-threatening complications such as pneumonia, and brain lesions in preschool-age children especially those less than 6 months old.
According to the CEC, Taiwan recorded 30 cases of whooping cough in 2018, 32 in 2019, and 5 in 2020, among which cases 57 percent were infants, who are either less than 2 months old or received only one jab of the vaccine, and 20 percent adults.
Preschool children in Taiwan are eligible to receive five shots of the five-in-one vaccine from the age of 2 months.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel