Baby dead and 50 ill after cough outbreak at top holiday hotspot
08.04.2024 - 16:37
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
An outbreak of a debilitating coughing condition has killed one baby and made 50 more people unwell at a popular European holiday hotspot in 2024.
Since the beginning of the year, Pertussis - which is commonly known as whooping cough - has claimed two lives in Greece, one being a newborn baby and the other an adult with underlying health conditions.
Greece's public health authority has confirmed that there has been 54 cases of the condition since the beginning of 2024, reports the Mirror. 32 of these cases are children and teenagers and 11 of these were babies, according to newspaper Ekathethimerini.
The symptoms - which include long coughing fits where a 'whooping' sound can be heard in the chest - are commonly known to be most risky to young children and babies.
Eirini Agapidaki, Greece's health minister, has warned tourists to vaccinate against this illness due to the current surge in cases in the country.
Greece is one of multiple European countries that has been affected by a rise of reports of whooping cough, as Croatia, Norway and Spain have also announced a recent surge too.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) confirmed that a large amount of cases have been detected in babies under the age of three months.
The ECDC explained: "Pertussis (as whooping cough is also known) is an endemic disease worldwide, even in the presence of a programme with high vaccination coverage, with peaks in disease spread every three to five years.
"The current increase is potentially linked to lower circulation during the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with sub-optimal vaccination uptake in certain groups. Infants and young children who are too young to be fully vaccinated have also been affected, including several