South Africa is seeing an escalation of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, after a lull during lockdown, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has said, with 42% of all cases being in the Western Cape.
Since the beginning of the year to 15 September, there have been 147 cases, with a steady increase noted since May – and a sharp rise from July (23 cases), through August (33) and September (53). Of the 147 cases, 77% were in children under five, most of them younger than three-months-old, reports TimesLIVE.
In July and August, the cases reported were evenly distributed across provinces and in keeping with numbers reported before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in September most cases (79%) were from the Western Cape.
Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease and immunity after vaccination is expected to last for five to six years.
The NICD said the drop in pertussis cases reported in 2020 and 2021, was probably due to decreased transmission related to non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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