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HEALTH

Denmark to give pregnant women free whooping cough vaccinations

Pregnant women will be offered free vaccinations against whooping cough, with an epidemic of the disease currently declared in Denmark.

Denmark to give pregnant women free whooping cough vaccinations
File photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix

Minister of Health Magnus Heunicke announced the temporary measure on Friday.

Specifically, women who are 32 weeks or more into their pregnancies will be entitled to the free vaccine when the offer comes into effect in November.

The free vaccination will be offered over an initial three-month period until the end of January, when the epidemic is expected to have passed.

Heunicke made the decision following advice from the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen), DR reports.

“Whooping cough is an extremely contagious disease and it can be life-threatening for infants. We can see that there is currently a whopping cough epidemic in Denmark, and if you are vaccinated while pregnant that immunity will be passed on to the child you give birth to,” Heunicke told the broadcaster.

“That means the child will be protected against whooping cough during the first months of its life,” he added.

Medical and disease research institute Statens Serum Institut (SSI), which declared the epidemic last month, has said it could be the largest of its kind in the country in over a decade.

Over 3,400 cases are expect in total for 2019, of which 8 percent will be amongst children under a year old.

Both children and adults can be infected with the disease, but it is most dangerous for infants.

Denmark’s child vaccination programme already includes jabs against the disease, but Heunicke said it was currently important for babies to be resistant at birth.

“Fortunately there is very, very strong support for the whooping cough vaccine with regard to newborns and small children. And I hope that support will be just as strong amongst pregnant women,” he said to DR, adding:

“This is quite simply about saving lives, because whooping cough is extremely contagious and can be life-threatening.”

On its website, SSI describes typical whooping cough symptoms as “stroing coughing fits followed by wheezy breathing and possible vomiting”.

READ ALSO: Whooping cough epidemic declared in Denmark

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HEALTH

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Danish stores sold a significantly lower quantity of alcohol and cigarettes over the counter last year, new data from Statistics Denmark show.

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Some 3,852 cigarettes were sold year, which amounts to 804 per person over the age of 18. But that compares to a figures of 854 per person on 2022.

Cigarette sales in Denmark have been declining since 2018.

Sales of sprits, beer and wine fell by 7.8 percent, 5.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Danish business sold the equivalent of 44.4 million litres of pure alcohol, which works out at 11.9 units per week on average for each person over the age of 18.

Although that is a lower value than in 2022, it still exceeds the amount recommended by the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen).

The Health Authority recommends that adults over 18 drink no more than 10 units per week and no more than four in a single day.

READ ALSO: Should Denmark raise the minimum age for buying alcohol?

“The numbers are still too high and it’s an average that could have a skewed distribution,” University of Southern Denmark professor, Janne Tholstrup, said in relation to the alcohol sales figures. Tholstrup has published research on Denmark’s alcohol culture.

That is in spite of a 30-year-trend of falling alcohol consumption, according to the professor.

“The majority of Danes stay under the recommended 10 unite per week. That means there is a large group with a persistently excessive consumption of alcohol,” she said.

The Statistics Denmark figures also show that sales of loose tobacco – such as the type used in roll-up cigarettes and pipes – also fell last year. Some 58 tonnes less were sold compared to 2022.

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