Czech Republic reports significant decrease in whooping cough in recent weeks, More than 34,000 cases reported in first 10 months of 2024

The Czech Republic National Institute of Public Health (SZU) reports the number of reported pertussis, or whooping cough cases is on a significantly decreasing trend in recent weeks—In the previous 4 weeks, according to the reporting date, an average of 448 new cases per week were registered, the number of reported cases ranged from 335 to 540 cases.

This compares to the months of March through June 2024, when more than 1,000 new cases were reported weekly, with a high of 1,600 cases during the last week of April.

Officials report a total of 34,423 cases of pertussis (Bordetella pertussis) from January 1 to November 3, 2024, plus hundreds of cases (>400) parapertussis (caused by B. parapertussis). 2.4% of all reported cases were hospitalized.

A total of 12 deaths in connection with pertussis have been reported in 2024, of which the majority are in persons of older age.

A total of 615 cases of pertussis have been reported in 2024 among children under one year of age. 266, or 43% were hospitalized.

The most cases of disease and the highest morbidity are still in the age group of 15-19 years.

The most cases of pertussis in 2024 to date are reported in the following regions: Moravian-Silesian (4,125), Central Bohemia (3,858), followed by Ústecký (3,621), and the city of Prague (3,207).

Of the total number of 34,423 cases reported in 2024, according to the data, 25,259 people were vaccinated, 2,822 persons unvaccinated and information on vaccination is missing for 6,342 persons.