Key Points

The pertussis epidemic observed across the country since the beginning of 2024 continues, with very high levels of bacterial circulation that have intensified in recent months

As of September 16, 2024, the latest update on the various pertussis surveillance indicators tracked by Santé publique France shows the following trends:

• In community practice

  • The Sentinelles network reported a significant increase in the incidence of confirmed pertussis cases starting in April, continuing through the end of June, and stabilizing in July and August. The incidence of confirmed pertussis cases seen in primary care was estimated at 134,639 cases for 2024.

  • The weekly number of SOS Médecins calls for a diagnosis of pertussis fluctuated over the summer months, while remaining at very high levels.

• In hospitals

  • After 31 weeks of increases since the start of the year, the weekly number of emergency room visits decreased for two weeks and stabilized, but levels remain very high compared to previous years.

  • Since week 31 (late July), the number of hospitalizations following emergency room visits has been declining but remains at levels far higher than those observed in previous years.

  • The RENACOQ network reports a cumulative total of 277 infants under 12 months of age hospitalized in 2024 (January through August), of whom 220 (79%) were under 6 months old.

• Activity data from private clinical laboratories (3Labos data) show a total of 34,777 positive PCR tests out of 130,904 tests performed since the beginning of 2024, representing a positivity rate of 27%. Although the number of monthly PCR tests has dropped sharply since July, the positivity rate remains stable; it was 29% in August (provisional data).

• A provisional total of 35 deaths has been reported since the beginning of 2024, including 22 children (20 under 1 year of age) and 13 adults (aged 51 to 95 years, but for whom pertussis was not listed as the primary cause of death).

• Regarding monitoring of strain resistance to macrolides, 13 resistant samples have been characterized at the CNR since the beginning of 2024 (13 out of 272 tested, or 1.8%), with 9 additional cases of resistance detected over the last two months (July and August).