Czech Republic: Whooping cough cases continue increase, Measles cases most since 2019
Whooping cough
In a follow-up on the pertussis, or whooping cough outbreak in the Czech Republic, health officials reported an additional 1,502 new cases during the past week, bringing the total to 17,755 pertussis cases in 2024 to date.
Most cases of pertussis in 2024 are reported in following regions: Central Bohemia (2,208), South Bohemia (1,995) and, followed by Moravian-Silesian (1,841) and the city of Prague (1,724).
The number of cases increased significantly in the last week in the Ústecký region, Moravskoslezské region and in the capital. city of Prague.
This year, 2.2% of all reported cases were hospitalized. Out of the total number of 255 children reported with pertussis under the age of 1 year, 121 children (47.5%) were hospitalized
Six deaths have been reported.
Of the total number of 17,755 cases reported in 2024, according to data in the ISIN, 13,300 people were vaccinated, 1,337 persons are unvaccinated and information on vaccination is missing for 3,118 persons.
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Measles
The number of measles patients is increasing in Europe. Experts expect a similar trend in the Czech Republic, where the State Health Institute had already recorded twenty-seven cases by the end of April this year, thirteen of which were in the South Bohemian Region.
This is the most cases since 2019 when 590 cases were reported throughout the year.
According to experts, the return of measles is not unexpected. “Globally, measles is never gone and epidemics of varying magnitude occur regularly. About once every three years. The last epidemic took place between 2018 and 2019. During the covid pandemic, there was an extremely low incidence of this disease," Štěpánka Čechová, spokeswoman for the State Health Institute (SZÚ).
Vaccination against measles, covered by public health insurance , is mandatory for children aged thirteen to eighteen months in the Czech Republic. Health workers use a combined live vaccine that is both against mumps and rubella. The second dose follows at five years. Experts point out that measles vaccination coverage should ideally exceed 95 percent, but only about 88 percent of children in the Czech Republic are vaccinated.
According to experts from the State Health Institute, the course of measles has two phases. The first lasts about four days, when the patient has a high temperature, runny nose, cough and conjunctivitis. A fever follows, a rash appears, which starts behind the ears and on the back of the head, spreads to the face, trunk, arms and legs. After five days, the fever drops sharply and the rash fades. The incubation period for measles is usually seven days to three weeks. It is transmitted through the air, i.e. when talking, sneezing or singing.
The age group most at risk are young children, in whom the disease can have a complicated course. "It can be infections of the middle ear and lungs or diarrhea. In the case of such complications, it is already a bacterial infection. These are already being treated with antibiotic treatment," Radomíra Limberková, head of the National Reference Laboratory for Measles at the SZÚ specified.
According to her, in the most severe cases, the central nervous system is affected and the patient must be hospitalized. "Symptoms of inflammation of the brain or meninges may appear. After that, it also involves hospitalization in intensive care units," she pointed out.