In late summer 2024, a sharp climb in whooping cough across several Canadian provinces has drawn attention back to a disease that human communities have known for centuries and learned, through vaccination, to hold at bay. Quebec leads the rise, with more than eleven thousand cases this year against a typical handful of hundreds in the years before the pandemic, while Ontario and New Brunswick show the same pattern on a smaller scale. Public health officials read the swing as part of a long cycle that returns every few years, yet the height of this wave reminds the country that protection is n
Whooping Cough Cases Surge Across Canadian Provinces, Well Above Pre-Pandemic Levels
Most Quebec patients are aged 10 to 14; the disease can be life-threatening, especially for very young children.
"We call it the 100-day cough."
Mark
Quebec's number is huge. How should I read 11,670 against 562?
Mimi
It's the headline figure. The yearly average from 2015 to 2019 was 562, and even the 2019 peak was 1,269. So this year is well beyond anything in that window.
Luke
Worth noting that comparison is to reported cases. The source doesn't say how much of the jump is more illness and how much is more testing or reporting.
Mark
Who is getting sick?
Mimi
In Quebec, most patients are between 10 and 14, according to the health ministry. Tam also stressed that the disease is most dangerous for very young children.
Luke
Those are two separate statements. The age data describes who is being diagnosed in Quebec, not who is being hospitalized. The article gives no hospitalization or death figures.
Mark
Officials call it cyclical. Does that explain this?
Mimi
It gives context. Increases come every two to five or six years. But the article doesn't say this surge is just the normal cycle.
Luke
Right. Cyclical is a pattern, not an explanation of size. Also, Ontario's 470 is as of June, so it's not a full-year number and isn't directly comparable with Quebec's year-to-date count.
Mark
And the wider picture?
Mimi
The US and other places have seen increases, and PAHO issued an alert in July asking countries to boost surveillance and vaccination.
Le Pouls
- Quebec's case count has soared past eleven thousand this year, more than twenty times its pre-pandemic yearly average, and the surge is concentrated among children aged 10 to 14.
- Ontario's dashboard climbed to 470 cases by June, with Toronto and Ottawa each running more than double their usual annual totals.
- New Brunswick declared an outbreak after 141 infections, pulling a smaller province into the same alarming current.
- Health authorities are racing to tighten surveillance and push vaccination coverage, following a warning from the Pan American Health Organization that the disease is returning across the Americas.
In late summer 2024, a sharp climb in whooping cough across several Canadian provinces has drawn attention back to a disease that human communities have known for centuries and learned, through vaccination, to hold at bay. Quebec leads the rise, with more than eleven thousand cases this year against a typical handful of hundreds in the years before the pandemic, while Ontario and New Brunswick show the same pattern on a smaller scale. Public health officials read the swing as part of a long cycle that returns every few years, yet the height of this wave reminds the country that protection is never permanent and must be renewed. The question now is less what the disease is than how quickly families, clinics and governments can close the gaps that let it travel.
More than 11,670 cases of whooping cough have been reported in Quebec so far this year, compared with an average of 562 a year between 2015 and 2019. The province's health ministry says most of the patients are between 10 and 14 years old. The last peak, in 2019, saw 1,269 cases; this year has already surpassed that figure many times over.
Ontario is seeing the same movement on a smaller scale. By June, the provincial dashboard counted 470 cases, far above its five-year average of 98. Toronto and Ottawa are each well past their usual yearly totals, and New Brunswick has declared an outbreak after 141 cases.
Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, has warned that the disease is rising across the country. It is highly contagious and preventable by vaccine, but it can be dangerous, especially for very young children. It begins like a common cold and grows into a cough that can last for months, which is why it is nicknamed the 100-day cough.
Officials describe the disease as cyclical, returning every two to six years. Even so, the scale of this rise stands out. The Pan American Health Organization has urged countries to strengthen surveillance and vaccination, and Canadian provinces are now watching their case counts closely as the season continues.
More than 11,670 cases of whooping cough have been reported in Quebec so far this year. In the five years from 2015 to 2019, the province averaged 562 a year. The figure, supplied by Quebec's health ministry, is the sharpest of several provincial counts now pointing the same direction across Canada.
A ministry spokesperson told The Canadian Press by email that most of Quebec's patients are between 10 and 14 years old. The province's last peak in whooping cough activity came in 2019, when 1,269 cases were recorded. This year's total is more than nine times that.
Ontario's numbers are smaller but move the same way. As of June, a provincial dashboard showed 470 cases, against a five-year average of 98. Two of the province's cities stand out. Toronto has reported 99 cases this year and Ottawa 76, and in both places that is more than double the pre-pandemic annual averages.
In New Brunswick, an outbreak was declared last week. So far 141 cases have been reported there, well beyond the five-year average of 34 per year.
Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said last week that pertussis, as the disease is formally known, is on the rise across the country. It is highly contagious and preventable by vaccine. In an interview on Friday, she said it can be very serious and even life-threatening, especially for very young children. She also pointed to its nickname. "We call it the 100-day cough," she said, adding that it can bring a significant amount of coughing for a very long time.
The illness starts with symptoms that resemble a common cold. Over several weeks it develops into a persistent cough, with spells that often end in a "whoop" as the person catches their breath.
Public health officials describe whooping cough as cyclical, with increases every two to five or six years. The pattern helps frame the current numbers, though the scale of the rise in Quebec is considerable against recent peaks.
The increase is not confined to Canada. Cases have also risen in the United States and elsewhere. In July, the Pan American Health Organization issued an alert urging countries to step up their surveillance and their vaccination coverage. For Canadian provinces, that points to closer tracking of case counts and attention to vaccination as the season continues.
Citations marquantes
We call it the 100-day cough. It can lead to (a) significant amount of coughing for a very long time.— Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer
Envie de l'histoire complète ?
Lire l'original sur BayToday ↗
General News