The number of whooping cough cases has exploded this year due to a lack of vaccinations. The previous year there were 2,791 infections, and now 9,972 cases were reported on August 20 alone. Infection can be life-threatening, especially for infants.
The Vienna Medical Association reminded people on Wednesday that vaccinations should be renewed, ideally now every ten years when starting school for first-graders and for adults, and every five years from age 60.
According to the Epidemiological Reporting System (EMS), 964 cases of whooping cough had been confirmed in Vienna as of August 20. This means that this year, around 15 times as many cases have been registered as in the whole of 2023, the Vienna Medical Association calculated in a press release.
Tyrol is clearly at the top
However, the frontrunner is not Vienna as the most populous state, but Tyrol with 2,460 cases since the beginning of the year. This is followed by Upper Austria with 1,933, Styria with 1,585, Lower Austria with 1,280 and Salzburg with 1,069 cases. There have been fewer infections this year than in Vienna in Vorarlberg (316), Burgenland (201) and Carinthia (164).
Medical Association: “Quickly close vaccination gaps”
“The large vaccination gaps are responsible for the frightening increase in Vienna and throughout Austria and must be closed quickly. Because whooping cough is a serious disease that can be life-threatening for infants,” warns Johannes Steinhart, head of the Medical Association. “We therefore call again for the booster of the four-shot vaccination against tetanus, diphtheria, polio and whooping cough to finally be offered free of charge.” Babies receive the three-shot basic vaccination against whooping cough free of charge as part of a six-shot vaccination programme, but the boosters should not be forgotten either.
Consecration in Vienna: 14 years without a case, this year already seven
“Whooping cough causes enormous suffering and is extremely dangerous for our little ones,” emphasizes Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, first vice president of the Vienna Medical Association. The disease, also known as 100-day cough, also causes convulsive coughing attacks in adults, which can lead to vomiting and can last for a long time. “Since the beginning of the year, I have already registered seven confirmed cases in my practice, and not one in the last 14 years. “Colleagues also paint a similar picture,” reports the family doctor.
Large holes in small children
More than eight percent of two to four year olds had not received any vaccination against whooping cough in 2023. This means that you are also completely unvaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, polio, Haemophilus influenzae B and hepatitis B, which are also included in the six-dose vaccine. Another ten percent of this age group received the first partial vaccination, but not all subsequent vaccinations required for the three-dose basic vaccination.
Source: Krone
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