Croatian health authorities are currently recording an unusually high number of whooping cough cases. Due to the highest number of infections in ten years, there are already warnings of an epidemic.
Instead of the usual 50 cases per year, more than 1,100 cases of the highly contagious respiratory disease have already been registered this year, including 700 since September alone, the state public health institute announced on Wednesday. According to the institute, most cases of the disease, which is especially dangerous for babies and the elderly, occurred in the capital Zagreb and the coastal city of Split, popular with holidaymakers. Children between the ages of six and fourteen are particularly affected.
In Croatia, children are required to be vaccinated against whooping cough. While 92 percent of babies received their first dose last year, only 88 percent received the booster vaccinations recommended for seven-year-olds; in some regions only 68 percent.
The number of opponents of vaccination is growing
Experts blamed the increasing number of anti-vaccination activists for this. The head of the Institute for Split, Zeljka Karin, explained that the many myths about the negative effects of vaccinations circulating on the Internet were to blame for this. “The online networks are spreading panic,” she explained. According to her, the trend continued to rise after the corona pandemic.
Source: Krone
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