The Number Of Cases Of Whooping Cough In Russia Increased By 40%

The number of cases of whooping cough in Russia increased by 40%

Compared to the figures for 2017, the number of cases of whooping cough last year increased 2.7 times.

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In 2019, 14,406 people fell ill with whooping cough in Russia, which is about 40% more than a year earlier. In 2018, the number of cases was 10,412. This is reported by RBC with reference to the data of Rospotrebnadzor.

Compared to 2017, the number of cases of whooping cough last year increased 2.7 times, according to RBC's calculations. In January 2020, 1,758 people fell ill with whooping cough in Russia. Most of them (89%) are children under 14 years old.

The chief epidemiologist of the Ministry of Health, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nikolai Briko, in a commentary for RBC, noted that more than 95% of the country's population received pertussis vaccinations. Despite this, the incidence continues to rise. He said that a third of those who had pertussis were fully vaccinated about the disease.

“It has now been revealed that already four to five years after vaccination, immunity weakens and a person becomes vulnerable to whooping cough again. In this regard, more than half of all cases of whooping cough in Russia are registered in children aged three to 14 years,”said Briko.

“When analyzing statistical forms, it was revealed that in the first year of life, less than 50% of children were timely vaccinated in 2014-2016, the required level, more than 95%, in some regions is not even achieved by two years,” said Mr. Briko.

Nikolai Briko called the lack of timely vaccination in children an important reason for the surge in incidence.

“When analyzing statistical forms, it was revealed that in the first year of life less than 50% of children were vaccinated in a timely manner in 2014-2016, the required level - more than 95% - in some regions is not even achieved by two years,” the academician said. In his opinion, the outbreak of the disease occurred both due to parents' refusals to vaccinate, and due to untimely vaccinations.