Czechia Pertussis Outbreak Sets Records

According to data from the Czech State Health Institute (SZU), the number of pertussis cases in 2024 has exceeded 7,888.

Local media (Xinhua) reported that this outbreak is the most severe in decades.

Pertussis is a highly infectious bacterial disease involving the respiratory tract. It is caused by a bacterium (Bordetella pertussis or Bordetella parapertussis) found in an infected person's mouth, nose, and throat. It is also known as whooping cough, said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on April 22, 2024.

In 2022, the ECDC reported that EU/EEA countries had only 2,623 cases of pertussis. Germany and Poland accounted for 60% of all reported cases.

In the five years between 2018 and 2022, pertussis case numbers peaked in spring 2020 but decreased to a very low level until the end of 2022.

Furthermore, SZU recently indicated that about 5,800 cases had been vaccinated, suggesting a decrease in vaccine efficacy.

More than 45,000 people have been revaccinated to address this concern in 2024, compared to about 24,000 last year.

According to the U.S. CDC, international travel generally doesn't put people at a higher risk of getting pertussis (Whooping Cough). However, travelers are more likely to get infected if they have close contact with people with the disease. 

The CDC recommends that adults who have never been vaccinated speak with a travel vaccine advisor about pertussis vaccine options and other vaccinations one month before visiting a pertussis outbreak area.