The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has reported that, during 2023 and until April 2024, European countries have reported almost 60,000 cases of whooping cough, which is ten times more than in 2022 and 2021.
According to the ECDC, this rebound in cases caused by the ‘bordetella pertussis’ bacteria is explained by a few years of limited circulation in Europe, particularly during the covid pandemic. Furthermore, the epidemiological picture can also be attributed to the presence of unvaccinated or up-to-date vaccinated individuals and the decrease in immunity.
Specifically, during 2023 more than 25,000 cases were registered and more than 32,000 between January and March of this year. Despite this, the ECDC states that whooping cough is an endemic disease in Europe and throughout the world that causes larger epidemics every three to five years, even in countries with high vaccination coverage. In fact, similar figures were observed in 2016 (41,026) and 2019 (34,468).
Infants younger than six months, unimmunized or partially immunized, are at highest risk for severe illness, and the majority of pertussis-related hospitalizations and deaths occur in this vulnerable age group.
In particular, during 2023-24, in 17 countries in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Slovakia), infants represented the group with the highest reported incidence.
Three countries observed the highest incidence in children aged 10 to 14 years, followed by adolescents aged 15 to 19 years (Croatia, Denmark, Luxembourg), and two countries observed the highest incidence in adolescents aged 15-19 years, followed by children aged 10 to 14 years (Czech Republic, Slovenia).
The ECDC highlights that in Spain infants had the highest incidence in 2023, however, at the beginning of 2024, children aged 10 to 4 years had the highest incidence.
Regarding deaths, between 2011-2022, a total of 103 deaths were reported, of which 69 (67%) were in infants and 25 (24%) were in adults aged 60 years or older. In the period between January 2023 and April 2024, a total of 19 deaths have been reported: 11 (58%) in infants and eight (42%) in older adults (60 years of age).
“The increasing number of whooping cough cases across Europe demonstrates the need for alertness. It is a serious disease, especially in infants. We have safe and effective vaccines that can prevent it. “Vaccination is our key tool to help save lives and prevent the disease from further spreading,” explained EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides.
At this point, the ECDC encourages public health authorities to reinforce vaccination programs and to achieve and maintain high vaccination coverage, including complete and timely completion of the primary immunization series and subsequent booster doses, according to with national recommendations.
Also, remember that pertussis vaccination during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy is very effective in preventing illness and death among newborns who are still too young to be vaccinated.
Likewise, the director of the ECDC, Andrea Ammon, has emphasized the importance of vaccines to avoid more cases. “As we address this whooping cough epidemic, it is essential to remember the lives that are at stake, especially those of our little ones. Pertussis vaccines have been proven safe and effective, and every action we take today determines the health of tomorrow. We have the responsibility, as parents or as public health professionals, to protect the most vulnerable group from the deadly impact of this disease,” she said.
