Whooping cough cases on rise

Whooping cough is on the rise in Czechia, with 449 new cases in the last week. There have been 1,666 confirmed cases in the country since the start of this year, more than in the last four years combined. Around a third of those affected are children and adolescents.

Symptoms of the infectious disease are repeated bouts of coughing that can end in gasping or vomiting and that won't respond to common medications. Whooping cough can be fatal for unvaccinated infants under one year of age. Infants may not have a significant cough, as they have not yet developed a cough reflex, but warning signs are apnoeic pauses (absence of breathing lasting more than twenty seconds) and gasping.