The Korea Pediatric Youth Hospital Association for "100 Days of Illness" "Emergency Measures for Infection of Predicted Children"

Nov 12, 2024

◇ A banner was installed at a university hospital in Seoul to recommend wearing a mask due to growing concerns over respiratory diseases such as the spread of the White House and the resurgence of COVID-19. Yonhap News

Amid the first death from whooping cough in Korea since statistics were compiled in 2011, the Korea Association of Pediatric Youth Hospital (formerly the Korea Children's Hospital Association, chairman Choi Yong-jae, head of Uijeongbu Strong Children's Hospital) urged health authorities to come up with measures.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an infant who was hospitalized for whooping cough died of worsening symptoms on the 4th.

This infant is an infant under 2 months old who is subject to the first vaccination for whooping cough and phlegm before vaccination, and was confirmed to have whooping cough on the 31st of last month.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of pertussis patients in Korea has been steadily increasing among infants, children, and adolescents, but this is the first time that the death toll has occurred since the 2011 count of pertussis deaths.

In this regard, the Korea Pediatric Youth Hospital Association (hereinafter referred to as the Association) said, "100 days ago, a disease that is scarier than COVID-19 in infants, has never happened before."Without a major inspection and countermeasures on the pediatric and adolescent healthcare system thrown out in the war against childhood diseases, the second and third pertussis deaths will inevitably be reenacted" he said.

The association only reiterated the request that carers need attention without taking virtually any countermeasures, although not only whooping cough but also all childhood infectious diseases are rapidly increasing after the COVID-19 incident"The death of a pertussis infant is nothing short of foreseen", he pointed out.

In addition, although the number of patients with mycoplasma pneumonia is much higher than that of whooping cough, whooping cough is much more lethal in infants. For infants, we have a serious task ahead of us to prevent deadly whooping cough and widespread mycoplasma pneumonia. We should all join forces in the face of a disease that is more dreadful than war. Instead of just asking the guardian to pay attention, government authorities and experts should put their heads together to discuss measures such as finding solutions to stop the epidemic of infectious diseases in children," he stressed.

Since our association called for strong measures against childhood infectious diseases last year when there were signs of a mycoplasma pneumonia epidemic, government authorities have said that the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education will run a task force, but it is questionable how efficient it has been.

The association responded by operating a joint task force of relevant ministries as a countermeasure in the press release of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"I sincerely hope that this time, not through slogans, will not cause death from childhood infectious diseases."

Choi Yong-jae, president of the Korea Pediatric Youth Hospital, said "Korea is worried about the disappearance of the country due to ultra-low birth rate, which is not a good environment for raising children."To prevent the death of infants, the collapsed pediatric medical system must be corrected and various policy and institutional mechanisms for happy parenting will lead to healthy growth and an increase in the fertility rate of children."

Meanwhile, whooping cough is characterized by paroxysmal cough and is a respiratory infectious disease.

This is because severe cough continues for a long time, deteriorating the quality of life, and newborns and infants can even cause severe complications or death.

pertussis is a second-class infectious disease caused by infection with 'Bordetella pertussis', and children and adolescents account for about 90% of all patients.

It is called the "100 days of coughing" in the sense of '100 days of coughing'. In practice, it takes six to eight weeks, and symptoms can persist for more than three to four months if proper treatment is not received. It is a disease that spreads droplets, and is infected by direct contact or respiratory transmission by coughing and sneezing, and can have an incubation period of 4 to 21 days.

Professor Park Sung-hee of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital said in this regard, "Disruption occurs mainly in children and adolescents and is fatal enough to be one of the causes of death in infants and toddlers. In particular, in the case of neonatal infection, the fatality rate is high enough to reach 4% even after treatment. Therefore, proper vaccination and thorough management are important."

"Even if vaccination is completed, it is necessary to prevent further transmission by practicing hand washing, observing cough etiquette, and wearing a mask in daily life," he added.