YTN Radio (FM 94.5) [YTN News FM Wise Radio Life]
□ Broadcast Date: November 15, 2024 (Fri)
□ Host: Announcer Lee Hyun-woong
□ Castor: Shin Sang-yeop, Senior Research Fellow, KMI Korean Medical Research Institute
* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.
◆ announcer Lee Hyun-woong (hereinafter Lee Hyun-woong): Issue interview continues. It's an infectious disease that's known to keep coughing for 100 days. As whooping cough became popular around the world, the first death case was also reported in Korea. An infant who was only two months old died after being infected with whooping cough. Special attention from infants, children, and adolescents who are vulnerable to respiratory diseases seems to be needed. So today, I would like to talk with a specialist in infectious diseases and prevention methods for whooping cough. Shin Sang-yeop, senior researcher at the KMI Korean Medical Research Institute, came directly to the studio. How are you?
◇ Shin Sang-yeop, Senior Research Fellow, KMI Korean Medical Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as Shin Sang-yeop): Yes, hello.
◆Lee Hyun-woong: Today's topic is whooping cough. It is commonly known that it was named because it did not stop coughing for 100 days, but I wonder if this is right first.
◇Shin Sang-yeop: The symptom itself is that you cough for a long time, but you don't cough for 100 days. I'm going to do it for a few weeks now. To briefly explain this disease called whooping cough, this is a bacterial and respiratory infectious disease called Bordetella pultosis. It's just a flu or corona virus that infects people through droplets or contact. However, the characteristic of whooping cough is that it has the highest transmission power among bacteria. It's usually called the infection reproduction index, so how many people does one person infect? There are a lot of people discussing these things, but there are 12 to 17 whooping coughs. One person is supposed to infect more than 10 people. It is similar to measles, which causes air infections. So, if there is a confirmed patient now, it is an infectious disease that has tremendous transmission power to the extent that not only all family members catch it, but also one person at a daycare center catch it.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: When we say the most recent memory, we often compare it because of COVID-19, but how many people did COVID-19 spread to if one person caught it?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: The reviews were a little different from the beginning, but it was difficult to get past 3 even when it went up a lot. However, there were reports that it reached close to 10 in the acute phase of the epidemic, but now I believe it is maintained at less than two, just like the flu and COVID-19. And in the case of the flu, it goes back and forth about 1.3 times. So, I think the number 12 to 17 is quite high.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: You're right. I've always told you through news reports, but I wasn't very alert, but when you tell me this figure today, I suddenly become alert. Recently, the first death case in Korea came out. Is it a very dangerous disease?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: In the end, what's dangerous is that the critical death parts are very important now. In the case of whooping cough, before the vaccine was developed in the past, newborns are called infants for less than a month, and infants under the age of one are called infants. In the case of newborns, the mortality rate rose to about 4%, and infants under the age of one accounted for more than 80% of confirmed cases. In fact, the incidence of newborns and infants is not that high in countries where vaccines are developed and vaccinated at the right time. Instead, a large-scale trend has recently emerged, with children and adolescents and adults who are not well vaccinated, and adults rarely get hospitalized or die. However, in the case of obesity and asthma patients, there are quite a few cases where they have to be hospitalized, and especially in the case of the elderly, there is a risk, so it can be seen as an infectious disease that requires some attention from infants and the elderly.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: If it takes a person, it can spread from 12 to 17. Then I think it's spreading very rapidly right now, how many people are infected?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: In fact, whooping cough has never been a major epidemic in Korea in the past. However, in the case of last year, the total number of confirmed patients reported last year is 292 and only from January to October for a year. Then there were only 64 people. But this year, the number of confirmed cases from January to October exceeded 30,000.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: 30,000 people. There were 64 people until October last year. It's less than 100 people.
◇Shin Sang-yeop: The figure is not important, but the fact that more than 30,000 confirmed cases have been confirmed is that there are actually more patients. As I said earlier, there are not many large-scale trends because infants and toddlers are getting vaccinated well, but there are nearly 80% of the trends that are now centered on the elderly, so the preparation for this is not smooth and the parts that were not concentrated are becoming a problem.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: We're talking about whooping cough and people who are curious are already texting us. The listener said, "Is it true that there is no vaccine for whooping cough in Korea? They're asking me that.
◇Shin Sang-yeop: No. The whooping cough is getting inoculated well now. For whooping cough, the basic vaccination is given three times for 2, 4, 6 months, and the additional vaccination is given three times until the age of 11, and after that, it is supposed to be inoculated every 10 years. Now, there is no problem with the supply and demand of the vaccine itself, and vaccination is going well.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Since it's spreading so rapidly this year, I wonder if this kind of ghost story is circulating, but why is it suddenly increasing this year?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: After all, the fact that a large-scale infectious disease is now in vogue means that the balance has collapsed in the fight between the sword and the shield. So either the pathogen gets stronger or the human immune system gets weaker or it's now either the result is
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Is this also a variant like COVID-19?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: Whooping cough does not change much in the pathogen. Eventually, human immunity problems arise. As I said earlier, the vaccination is done at a young age of 2, 4, and 6 months, and the additional vaccination is now supposed to be done three times: 15 to 18 months, 4 to 6 years old, 11 years old, and 12 years old. However, most parents do all vaccinations for ages 4 to 6. But if you think about 11 years and 12 years old, there are many cases where you haven't taken the children and vaccinated them for whooping cough. Looking at the current trend, in Korea, there is a large-scale trend centered on children who have not been vaccinated at the age of 11 to 12.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: I see. Is it related to COVID-19 or COVID-19 vaccine effects?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: There's something like that. Environmentally, it is called immune debt, and from 2020 to 2024, when COVID-19 was prevalent, a relatively large number of people wore masks while social distancing. So there were not many opportunities for young children to be exposed to whooping cough during that period. That's the same for adults. But now, relatively young children have been vaccinated well, but teenagers over the age of 10 and adults have not been vaccinated against whooping cough, and after a long period of time, new pathogens are encountered, and in fact, there are situations in which people pay off their debts in the past. So, the epidemic of whooping cough is occurring not only in Korea but also around the world, and there are phenomena in which Myco Plasma and other respiratory infectious diseases increase relatively after COVID-19.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Then, do you have to keep your distance or wear a mask like before even temporarily?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: In the end, you have no choice but to protect yourself, right? But the problem is that young children, especially newborns as soon as they are discharged, cannot wash their hands and wear masks, and vaccination begins for two months. Then, as soon as you are discharged from the hospital, you are bound to be very vulnerable, but the child who died this time was also a child who died before two months of vaccination. So, in the end, adults should help prevent it from spreading to children, but the most important thing is that. If a pregnant woman at 27 to 36 weeks of pregnancy is inoculated with 10 shots, it will be protected up to about 6 months after the child is born. So there's one thing that says you should get vaccinated against whooping cough every pregnancy. Also, since you can't take care of your child alone, aren't there grandparents or people who take care of you like this? At least two weeks before seeing this newborn as soon as he is discharged from the hospital, he needs to make efforts to vaccinate the newborn with whooping cough and not infect the newborn without any countermeasures. So now, adults' efforts are needed to protect these newborns, and when they get older and they need to be vaccinated at an appropriate time to protect themselves.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: So if you look at a community where a lot of pregnant women are gathered, you need to be pregnant. There are stories like this, but he emphasized that it's not just groundless, it's really groundless, and that adults who can touch their children need to be more careful anyway. If you say the main symptom of whooping cough is cough?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: That's right. But it's a cough, but even in the early stages of whooping cough, it just coughs like a normal cold in the early stages. Now it's called Qatari, and when it passes and symptoms of a full-fledged 100 days appear, it's called hoopinkov. What this is is that I cough once, not breathe, but keep coughing. If that happens, you'll be out of breath, right? Then, you suddenly hear a "sniff" sound and inhale. This repetitive 'inhalation' becomes a very characteristic clinical finding of whooping cough. If you see a cough like this, it's actually a very important finding that you can almost diagnose whooping cough clinically.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: That's not breathing out and drinking on your own, but coughing continuously, so you have no choice but to keep breathing like this, right?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: How hard must it be because it's repeated over and over again? So, the elderly, especially those with asthma, will naturally have to be hospitalized, and there will be situations where newborns are not inoculated or may die if they are not immune.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: If you cough often and you think it's a little weird and your cough is different from usual, you should suspect this. And other than coughing, are there any symptoms or diagnostic methods that can distinguish it from a general cold?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: In fact, the cough doesn't last more than a week for a normal cold. And there are no systemic symptoms other than runny nose and cough symptoms. However, in the case of whooping cough, people who actually show symptoms do not fill whooping cough, but at least 6-7 weeks or more and a month or more. There are quite a few cases where the symptoms persist, and most of the time, they keep coughing and inhaling and these symptoms last for more than two weeks, so if you just look at the duration and pattern of the symptoms, experienced doctors can just diagnose and judge clinically.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Do you also have body aches and high fever?
◇ Shin Sang-yeop: You can be accompanied, but the cough itself is very difficult. In the first three weeks, the respiratory system is broken and the cough is severe, and after three weeks, the respiratory system is already broken and the pathophysiology of coughing is different depending on when it is found.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: The listener said, "When I was a child, it took me 10 days and I couldn't sleep because of the cough. Is it that bad when you say that?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: I can't sleep. I've been coughing. So this isn't a cough that ordinary people can actually endure, so that's why I'm worried. There are a lot of teenagers catching it right now, and the test takers are also catching it.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: The college entrance exam is over.
◇Shin Sang-yeop: But there are interviews and practical skills in the future, right? I've been coughing for weeks because of whooping cough. You won't be able to manage your condition at all, and the problem is that it's a second-class legal infectious disease, so if it takes 10 days, you'll be quarantined for 5 days even if treatment goes in. So, if you get caught in a part related to whooping cough, it will be very damaging to the test takers, so even if it is difficult to get vaccinated right now, I think it will be a little safer to spend this test period with basic things such as hand washing and mask wearing.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: You said an important thing. As for prevention, if you keep emphasizing it, but you say you are coughing, how should you manage it?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: If you keep coughing, you should go to the hospital to find the cause and check it out. But if you keep coughing and this situation happens, in fact, it will be important to go to the hospital quickly, use antibiotics, and treat it because it can reduce the duration of symptoms and the spread of other people.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: How is the treatment done?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: Once the diagnosis is made, antibiotics are treated. Now that it's a bacterium, if you treat it with antibiotics, you can improve symptoms and things like this quickly. And if it's hard to do that, I'll have to be hospitalized and take care of it. But in the case of newborns, most of them have to be hospitalized.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: I see. The listeners are giving a lot of opinions, but there are people who say that the symptoms seem to be getting better after eating something. Is there any scientific proof of that?
◇ Shin Sang-yeop: These infectious diseases that destroy the entire respiratory system, such as whooping cough, show symptoms so severely and for a long time that no basic cough medicine works as well. It's a cough that doesn't work well even if you take medicine. It's spread so much that it's worth thinking about whooping cough, and if you listen to children and adolescents, I've never seen so many whooping cough patients in a day. So I think it would be better for children and teenagers to be diagnosed if they cough a lot and think it's a little strange.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Okay. You said this is level 2 of legal infectious diseases. Is there any support from the quarantine authorities when receiving a vaccine?
◇Shin Sang-yeop: There's nothing special, but insurance is now applied to the parts that are needed like the existing flu, and now it's managed in the basic daily medical system. There's no quarantine or support like COVID-19 in the past.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Okay. Lastly, to prevent whooping cough, you have to keep this. It's okay to say what you want to emphasize. Please do it again.
◇Shin Sang-yeop: In the end, there are three things. For pregnant people, please get vaccinated. And for those who have to take care of their children, please get vaccinated two weeks before taking care of them. And in the case of children, there are timely and additional vaccinations, but there are actually large-scale outbreaks because the last additional vaccination was not given when they were 12 years old. It's not too late now. Even if you're a little older, I'd like to ask you to get vaccinated if you're at an age where you need to get vaccinated.
◆ Lee Hyun-woong: Okay. That's all for today. I was with Shin Sang-yeop, a senior researcher at KMI's Korean Medical Research Institute. Thank you.
◇Shin Sang-yeop: Yes, thank you.
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