In Czechia — where there are reports of whooping cough vaccine shortages — case numbers are at their highest in 60 years, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). There have also been sharp rises in Denmark, Belgium, Spain and the U.K. in recent months.

“Most of the rise in the past couple of years has been because of a return to pre-Covid levels,” said Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the university of East Anglia. That’s except for this year, he said, “when infections have increased dramatically and are on track for exceeding any annual total we have seen in more than three decades.”

To put it in perspective — in 2023, a total of 853 cases were recorded in England. In February of this year alone, there were 913 cases, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The current European hotspot is Croatia, which reported 6,261 cases in the first two and a half months of this year.

A report from the British Medical Journal says that part of the reason for the spread is a drop in vaccination rates. 

In most European countries, babies get their first two doses of the combined whooping cough, diptheria and tetanus vaccine between two and 12 months, with another dose by the time they’re 2 years old and a final dose between 3 and 7.