Czechia records most whooping cough cases since 1960

Some 5,297 cases of whooping cough have been recorded so far this year in Czechia up to the end of March, the most in a single calendar year since 1960, shortly after the whooping cough vaccine was introduced. There were 1,044 new cases last week, a slight decrease from the previous week, which the State Health Institute attributes to the Easter holidays when children were off from school.

Two elderly people infected with whooping cough have died this year. A third of those infected are young people aged 15 to 19. Some 85 children under one year of age, who constitute a very high-risk group, have also been infected.