Over the past week, according to the data of the State Health Institute, 1,604 people were infected with whooping cough, which is the most in a week since the beginning of this year. In total, doctors register almost 11,000 patients. The highest morbidity is among young people aged 15 to 19, who make up roughly a third of those infected. 148 children under one year of age were also infected, who may be at risk of the disease because they have not completed their vaccinations.
“If a vaccinated person encounters the causative agent of the disease, the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, vaccination with current pertussis vaccines will prevent serious courses and complications of the disease in most individuals and reduce the likelihood of hospitalization and the risk of death,” SZÚ spokeswoman Štěpánka Čechová said in a press release.
Vaccination against whooping cough is mandatory for the smallest children, they receive it as part of the hexavaccine. “Current acellular pertussis vaccines are safer than previously used whole cell vaccines. However, like the vast majority of other vaccines, they do not provide lifelong protection against the disease. That is why it is necessary to revaccinate,” the spokeswoman added.
According to the SZÚ, new cases are increasing in all regions. The most infected in absolute numbers are in Central Bohemia, South Bohemia and Prague. The South Bohemian Region, Vysočina and Pardubice Region have the highest morbidity per population.
According to Roman Prymula, an epidemiologist and former Minister of Health for ANO, for most people, whooping cough is not too risky. According to SZÚ data, 231 people were hospitalized with whooping cough this year, about 2.1 percent of those infected. “With the exception of at-risk infants and a few at-risk seniors, this is not a disease that would somehow decimate our population,” said Prymula on Sunday in the Czech TV program Otázky Václav Moravec. Almost half of the children under one year ended up in hospitals, according to the SZÚ, due to the risk of complications and their rapid onset, they are hospitalized as a precaution.
