Croatia is being hit by a very strong whooping cough epidemic, with more than 1,000 cases since the start of the year compared to a few dozen normally, with experts pointing the finger at anti-vaxxers and suspecting lower immunity linked to lockdown restrictions.
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According to figures published on Wednesday by the National Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), more than 1,100 cases of this serious respiratory infection have been registered since the beginning of the year, including more than 700 since September.
According to the same source, between 2017 and 2021, there were an average of 50 cases of whooping cough per year. “This year the number of sick people is the highest in ten years,” the institute said in a response to AFP. “This is an outbreak of a highly contagious disease that can be very dangerous and even fatal to newborns and young children.”
Most cases were recorded in Zagreb and the region of the southern coastal city of Split, particularly among children aged 6 to 14.
In Croatia, children must be vaccinated against eleven diseases, including whooping cough. Last year, 92% of children received the first dose of the vaccine, but for the booster dose – recommended before the age of 7 – this rate drops to 88% and varies significantly by region, from 68% to 96%.
Several experts explain this decline with the rise of anti-vax movements on social networks, where false claims about the dangers of vaccines are circulating.
“Panic is being sown on social networks. This trend has accelerated after the coronavirus pandemic,” Zeljka Karin, head of the Split Region Public Health Institute, recently lamented.
Experts also explain the increase in whooping cough cases with a general weakening of natural immunity in the population – acquired through exposure to diseases – due to isolation measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.