North Kazakhstan region has registered 33 whooping cases since the year beginning, with 28 cases reported in its administrative center Petropavlovsk, Kazinform News Agency reports.
According to Serik Aussatov, chief of the city's epidemiological control department, last year no whooping cough cases were registered in Petropavlovsk .
All cases were registered among the children under 14. One of them is a school student and two are preschool children. Lack of vaccination remains the major cause of infection spread. 27 out of 28 patients have not been vaccinated. Children's parents refuse vaccination mostly. Only six children had medical contraindications, and one child did not reach vaccination age.," Aussatov said.
According to him, along with unstable epidemiological situation on whooping cough, children aged 2, 3, and 18 months, and 6 years living in Petropavlovsk have not been fully administered DTaP-containing vaccines. This may result in further increase in whooping cough and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
Currently, health authorities of Petropavlovsk are carrying out catch-up immunization of children under 18.
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