Twelve people have died from whooping cough, or pertussis, in the Czech Republic so far this year, according to the State Health Institute (SZU).
Most of the deaths have been among seniors, though they also include two children under the age of one year, the SZU epidemiological situation report published on Monday showed.
In the report, the SZU said the number of reported cases has significantly decreased in recent weeks. In the last four weeks, an average of 448 new cases were registered per week, down from a four-week average of 673 new cases reported in the previous report at the end of September.
Since the beginning of the year, the country has recorded a total of 34,423 cases. By comparison, there were 494 cases in the Czech Republic last year, and only 96 in 2022.
Of this year’s total, the most cases and the highest morbidity have been in the age group of 15-19 years, according to the report. The overall hospitalization rate is low (2.4 percent), but it is particularly high for children under the age of one year (over 40 percent) and seniors over 75 (10 percent).
Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory disease characterized by severe, hacking coughs that can persist for several weeks.
Local media report that this year’s outbreak in the country of 10.9 million people has been the most severe since the 1960s. The outbreak is mainly attributed to less effective vaccines for teenagers and a decrease in overall vaccination rates.