In the first three months of this year, more whooping cough infections were diagnosed in European countries than in all of 2023. The counter stood at 32,037 cases at the end of March. Last year, 25,130 people had contracted the disease in twelve months.
The European health agency ECDC shared figures on Wednesday for the 27 EU member states, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
The whooping cough outbreak is the largest since the service started keeping data in 2011. More than twelve thousand infections were confirmed in March of this year alone.
Luxembourg has been proportionately the hardest hit this year. In March, 402 in 1,000,000 people there had whooping cough. This is followed by the Czech Republic (338 per million), Croatia (258), Slovenia (184), Denmark (139) and Austria (127). The Netherlands peaked in February, with 111 infections per million people.
Croatia and Denmark registered even higher numbers at the end of 2023 than in the first months of 2024, but other countries recorded a significant increase.
At least nineteen people in Europe have died from whooping cough since the beginning of last year. This concerns eleven children and eight elderly people. These groups are at greatest risk from infection.
Tags: Whooping cough rise Europe infections
