Europe warns of dangerous rise in whooping cough cases and urges pregnant women and children to get vaccinated

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has warned of an increase in whooping cough cases. As you noted, since last year About 60,000 cases have been reported.Ten times more than in 2021 and 2022. The center wanted to exercise caution and urged pregnant women and children to get vaccinated as they are most at risk.

The danger of whooping cough

Commonly known as “whooping cough”. This is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. which is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Symptoms include an intense dry cough accompanied by a high-pitched sound when breathing in air or fatigue due to lack of air. In general, it is a condition that causes mild symptoms in adults and teenagers, although it is distressing in infants who suffer from it. Whooping cough can present in children with dangerous apnea as they stop breathing. This is why they may have more severe breathing problems.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has already warned about this. Rapid rise in whooping cough cases in Europe. As the center explained, over the past year there have been ten times more cases than in 2021 and 2022. In fact, European countries are already About 60,000 cases of whooping cough have been reported.. As explained, the increase in incidence could be caused by the large number of people who are not vaccinated today. Consequently, immunity to the bacteria decreased and the number of cases increased sharply.

The center noted that whooping cough is endemic in Europe, causing larger epidemics every three to five years, even in countries with high vaccination rates. Thus, called for vaccination of infants and pregnant womenwho are at greater risk of whooping cough. In particular, unimmunized children under six months of age are most susceptible to the disease. In fact, the majority of respiratory hospitalizations and deaths are due to whooping cough. In 2023 and 2024, the highest number of whooping cough cases were reported in infants in 17 European countries.

Call for vaccination

Three European countries, Denmark, Luxembourg and Croatia, have discovered high incidence of whooping cough in children aged 10 to 14 years. On the other hand, Slovenia and the Czech Republic have reported more cases in patients aged 15 to 19 years. Of the total deaths from whooping cough between 2011 and 2022, 103 were reported. 67% of deaths occurred in infants and 24% in adults aged 60 years or older. It is clear that the lower the immunity against bacteria, the higher the number of cases in Europe.

Therefore, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control recommended that at least people at high risk be vaccinated. Actually Vaccination against this disease is very effective in the second and third trimester of pregnancy to prevent this. For this reason, the center called on public health authorities to strengthen and expand the said vaccination programs. As EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides explained, “the increase in the number of whooping cough cases in Europe shows need to be alert. We have safe and effective vaccines that can prevent this. “Vaccination is our key tool to help save lives and prevent further spread of the disease.”

Symptoms of “whooping cough”

Symptoms of whooping cough usually appear 5 to 10 days after a person comes into contact with the bacteria. Whooping cough usually presents with the first symptoms, followed by secondary symptoms in some cases. Disease Characterized by attacks of dry, intense and sudden cough. along with difficulty breathing, although there are other derivative symptoms. One of them is a runny nose or nasal congestion.

To relieve this discomfort, some take medications prescribed by a doctor. In some cases, a rise in temperature is possible, although not high

, the so-called low-grade fever. In addition, there are those who even suffer from apnea, something more dangerous for small children and infants. During the first or second week after the first symptoms appear, the urge to vomit may appear after coughing attacks accompanied by fatigue. It is estimated that coughing attacks can last from one to ten weeks. If you notice the above symptoms and suspect that you have whooping cough, it is recommended that you consult a doctor.