April 8, 2024·News·Barbora Turková·Bára Nesvadbová
Matyáš Fošum. (Photo: Profimedia)
The guest of the Press Club was the Director of the Public Health Protection Department of the Ministry of Health, Matyáš Fošum. With Bára Nesvadbová, they discussed a major health topic of the last weeks and months – whooping cough.
Whooping cough has been occurring more and more frequently in recent weeks. “From a diagnostic point of view, the disease is not difficult to diagnose. We have PCR tests, culture tests, but the problem is that we perceive the disease as no longer current and that it ended in the 60s and 70s, when widespread vaccination began, and since then there have been units of cases that occur here. When doctors are looking for a diagnosis, they don’t think about that,” says Fošum, adding that even society as such does not perceive whooping cough or whooping cough very much. “Diseases are here, they have been with us since the 16th century. When there were epidemics, society did not deal with it much and it was more of a question for epidemiologists. After covid, the public became aware of public health and it is being talked about more.”
Knowing that it is whooping cough is not just that. The onset is very similar to other respiratory diseases. “The disease has three stages. We call the first catarrhal and the symptoms are the same as other respiratory diseases – increased temperature, there is more shortness of breath and they are more tired. During the next five days the next stage comes, which is associated with coughing. It’s more irritating, more impulsive and it’s mainly at night and it’s one of those signals when we have to start admitting that it’s whooping cough. Plus it doesn’t stop even if I take something to calm me down. It gets worse and comes more often, patients have trouble breathing and suffocate. In addition, they have such streaks and the bluing gave it the name whooping cough,” he explains, adding that standard treatment is with antibiotics.
A vaccinated person can still be a carrier
There was also a lot of discussion about whether a person who is vaccinated can be a carrier. “Unfortunately, this has created a lot of misleading information. The disease protects against massive symptoms that can threaten the person’s life. A vaccinated person can still be a carrier and can spread it, but it is considerably milder for them. The vaccination mainly protects me so that I don’t have severe symptoms and complications. In terms of social influence, there are people who cannot be vaccinated and by being vaccinated we are protecting them,” explains the director of the Public Health Protection Department of the Ministry of Health, Matyáš Fošum.
