Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpra...g-czech-kids-in-jan-nov-exceeds-2008-s/411982
Pertussis incidence among Czech kids in Jan-Nov exceeds 2008's
published: 14.12.2009, 17:56 | updated: 14.12.2009 17:58:39
Prague - Over 800 Czech children fell ill with whooping cough from January to November 2009, which is more than for the whole last year when the incidence was unusually high already, according to figures released by the State Health Institute.
About 770 cases of whooping cough (pertussis) were registered in the Czech Republic last year, compared to about 400 cases in the first months of the first three months of 2009 alone.
This March the Czech Republic introduced the obligatory revaccination of 10-year-old children with a sixth dose of pertussis vaccine.
According to experts, the higher incidence of the disease was due to children not having enough antibodies as they received the last dose of the vaccine at the age of five.
The disease most often affects children aged between nine and fourteen. It can cause complications, including death, to the newborn children and also elderly people who are not vaccinated, child practitioner Hana Cabrnochova told CTK.
Babies are vaccinated against it from their third month of age when they start receiving the vaccine that also protects them from diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis.
Pertussis incidence among Czech kids in Jan-Nov exceeds 2008's
published: 14.12.2009, 17:56 | updated: 14.12.2009 17:58:39
Prague - Over 800 Czech children fell ill with whooping cough from January to November 2009, which is more than for the whole last year when the incidence was unusually high already, according to figures released by the State Health Institute.
About 770 cases of whooping cough (pertussis) were registered in the Czech Republic last year, compared to about 400 cases in the first months of the first three months of 2009 alone.
This March the Czech Republic introduced the obligatory revaccination of 10-year-old children with a sixth dose of pertussis vaccine.
According to experts, the higher incidence of the disease was due to children not having enough antibodies as they received the last dose of the vaccine at the age of five.
The disease most often affects children aged between nine and fourteen. It can cause complications, including death, to the newborn children and also elderly people who are not vaccinated, child practitioner Hana Cabrnochova told CTK.
Babies are vaccinated against it from their third month of age when they start receiving the vaccine that also protects them from diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis.