Dangerous for children

Number of whooping cough cases soars

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

The number of whooping cough cases in Austria has risen sharply. As confirmed by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday, 6049 cases had already been registered by mid-June, compared to 2780 in the whole of 2023.

The disease is particularly dangerous for children; in March, for example, a baby died of whooping cough in Graz.

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides had already called for better vaccination standards in May: "This is a serious disease, especially in infants. We have safe and effective vaccines that can prevent it. Vaccination is our most important tool for saving lives and preventing the further spread of the disease".

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Vaccination free of charge for children in Austria
In Austria, the vaccination is administered as part of the six-way vaccination in the third, fifth and eleventh to twelfth month of life and is part of the free childhood vaccination program. At school age, a combination vaccination with diphtheria, tetanus and polio is repeated in the seventh to ninth year of life - preferably before starting elementary school. After that, a booster vaccination should be given every ten years and every five years from the age of 60.

To ensure that children are as well protected as possible from birth, the expectant mother should be vaccinated during every pregnancy, preferably in the 27th to 36th week of pregnancy.