What’s new: Health authorities in some parts of China have told residents to take precautions against whooping cough after cases of the highly contagious disease exceeded pre-pandemic levels last year.
A total of 38,205 cases were reported in 2023, up from the 30,027 cases reported in 2019, the most recent peak before the start of the Covid pandemic, according to national and local disease control centers.
Last December alone, China recorded 9,126 cases of whooping cough, whose medical name is pertussis, including one death, according to the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration. It was the highest number of cases of any month last year.
The surge has prompted health authorities in Beijing and provinces such as Shaanxi, Jiangxi, Shandong, Jilin and Jiangsu to urge their residents to take measures including vaccination and isolation at home or in hospitals to curb the spread of the disease.
The background: In the first winter since it scrapped its strict regime of Covid controls, China is battling a wave of respiratory infections caused by a variety of pathogens, including influenza and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which have hit children particularly hard.
Also known as the 100-day cough, whooping cough is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis and can cause symptoms such as a severe cough that lasts for months, health authorities said. It’s commonly seen in infants and young children and can lead to dangerous conditions such as pneumonia and brain inflammation.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
Get our weekly free Must-Read newsletter.
