Two babies who died were so young they weren't eligible for vaccine: Details of the tragedy that shook Serbia

Photo: Nikola Tomic, Shutterstock

Two of the babies who died from whooping cough were only 2.3 months old and did not even have time to receive the vaccine before they got sick, Telegraf has learned.

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Two of the babies were from Belgrade, and two from other parts of the country.

The news that four babies died in Belgrade from whooping cough shook Serbia. This was followed by information that another child's life is in danger because of the same disease.

Professor Vladislav Vukomanovic, pediatric cardiologist and deputy director of the Institute for the Mother and Child in Belgrade, announced that the child is on a ventilator and in a serious condition.

"One child is currently on a ventilator, which means serious danger to respiration and life, while, unfortunately, fatal outcome occurred in four patients," Vukomanovic stated.

The doctor also pointed out that the number of pertussis-positive children is about 70, and that two thirds are hospitalized.

The symptoms

Pediatrician Dr. Sasa Milicevic explained for Telegraf that the symptoms of whooping cough are characteristic, but that in the first phase of the disease, they coincide with those of other infections, so parents are often confused.

"If a mother notices that the child coughs with increasing intensity, that the cough lasts a long time in general, that the eyes are red, because the capillaries are bursting, this indicates whooping cough. The child has red conjunctivitis, sometimes it happens that there are red dots in the neck area, which also occur due to strenuous coughing, again we come to the point where a parent has to react. Second, the child is in a bad mood, weak, eats less, has more trouble sleeping, sometimes all of this is accompanied by vomiting, then, there is really no doubt that the situation is serious," says Dr. Milicevic.

As the pediatrician recalls, the only defense is vaccination, but for the past three years there has been a decline in vaccination coverage.

"In the initial phase, whooping cough starts like any other respiratory infection, and in the beginning it is not so hard, so the parents don't even know if it's really that. The child begins to cough, has a fever, everything looks like any other (respiratory) infection, and only later, in the second phase, does the characteristic coughing start. It usually lasts a long time and is called the 100-day cough.

Be careful with all that, because babies are the most vulnerable since they do not have a well-developed immune system, and unfortunately we have fatal outcomes," said the pediatrician, and reminded parents to vaccinate their children.

(Telegraf.rs)