Four babies died of whooping cough at the Mother and Child Institute in Belgrade, said Dr. Vladislav Vukomanović, director of the pediatric clinic at the Institute for Mother and Child Health Care of Serbia “Dr. Vukan Čupić”.
Vukomanović explained that newborns up to four months old can develop a very severe clinical picture, which ended in the death of four children.
He added that one sick child is on a ventilator, which means that he is at risk.
“We have about 70 children with whooping cough, and half are hospitalized, which indicates an increase in the number of children with a severe clinical picture,” Vukomanović told RTS.
He pointed out that the best defense against whooping cough is vaccination and that the insufficient number of vaccinated contributed to the increase in the number of patients.