Whooping cough surge haunts 'insecure skeptics' in Austria - Europe's no-vax stronghold

Cases of whooping cough (pertussis) continue to be on the rise in Europe, with multiple countries reporting deaths among infants. Some experts say fake news on social media are responsible for low vaccination rates, especially in Austria - the country with Europe's lowest vaccination rate at 84 percent.

"My child has not been vaccinated against whooping cough," Viennese mother Nicole told CGTN. The illness was not even on her radar, she added.

Vienna's Medical Association described the recent pertussis surge as "frightening" and is now calling for free booster shots to close the vaccination gap.

"About three weeks ago we had an elderly lady with pertussis," said medical historian Daniela Angetter from Austria's Academy of Sciences. "She told me that she has been infected by a child because she was working in a kindergarten."

Angetter says fake news about vaccinations spread by Austria's Freedom Party and other influential groups is partly responsible for the country's low immunization rate.

"They think there are substances that harm them inside the vaccination serum. It is crazy to tell anyone that there are dead embryos in the vaccine - because that's not true," Angetter told CGTN.

"If a lot of people discuss such things these are multiplicators in the world outside and they influence other people and we have a lot of insecure skeptics in Austria."

In March, the European Union recorded a tenfold increase in infections over the previous 15 months. Since then, the situation has worsened in Austria. While in the previous year as a whole there were 2,791 cases, this year 9,972 cases have been reported up to August 20 alone. 

In the same month, an Austrian infant died from the highly contagious bacterial disease, forcing the temporary closure of several kindergartens.

Whooping cough causes interruptions in breathing, which is especially dangerous during sleep. About half of all infected infants end up in hospitals and one in a hundred dies.

The current spike in whooping cough cases is not a new occurrence, however. According to the EU's health agency, every three to five years larger epidemics are expected even with elevated vaccination coverage. Unimmunized infants, though, have the highest risk of mortality.

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