Hepatitis A and Whooping Cough Alert During Seasonal Transition... Vaccination Is the 'Best' Protection

[Financial News] As the seasonal transition and the Chuseok holiday approach, interest is rising in preventing infectious diseases such as hepatitis A and whooping cough. With more overseas travel, long-distance trips, and family gatherings during this period, experts say people should check their vaccination status in advance, along with maintaining good personal hygiene.
According to the medical community on the 25th, hepatitis A is an acute liver disease that spreads through contaminated water or food, or through contact with infected people. Because there is no specific treatment, care is focused on relieving symptoms, making prevention especially important.
According to the "Global Infectious Disease Trends" report published by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) in March, hepatitis A cases have recently been increasing in places such as Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Hong Kong, the number of hepatitis A infections rose from 30 in 2023 to 72 in 2025, and 13 cases were reported in January this year. Taiwan also recorded 485 patients last year, the highest level in the past nine years. In South Korea, 17,598 hepatitis A patients were reported in 2019 after contaminated Chinese salted seafood was distributed.
Hepatitis A often causes no symptoms or only mild illness in children, but more than 70% of adults may develop acute hepatitis symptoms, including jaundice. In some patients, symptoms can last for a long time or recur, and in severe cases, the disease can progress to fulminant hepatitis.
People in their 20s to 40s are considered to have a relatively large immunity gap for hepatitis A. The hepatitis A vaccine was added to the national essential vaccination program only in 2015, so many people born before then have no vaccination history. The KDCA recommends vaccination without an antibody test for people under 40 who have never had hepatitis A and have no vaccination record. For those 40 and older, an antibody test is recommended first, and vaccination is advised if no antibodies are found.
Whooping cough is also a respiratory infectious disease that requires caution during seasonal transitions and periods of increased face-to-face contact. If infants with weak immunity become infected, it can lead to severe complications or death. According to KDCA vaccination information, whooping cough is highly contagious, with a secondary household attack rate of up to 80%.
For whooping cough prevention, the recommended schedule is to complete the basic vaccinations in infancy, receive the Tdap vaccine at ages 11 to 12, and then get booster doses of the Td or Tdap vaccine every 10 years. For pregnant women, vaccination between 27 and 36 weeks of pregnancy can provide passive immunity to the fetus through antibodies.
Experts emphasize that both hepatitis A and whooping cough are vaccine-preventable diseases, so the focus should be on prevention before infection rather than treatment afterward.
Choi Jae-ki, a professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at The Catholic University of Korea Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital, said, "The risk of hepatitis A infection rises when people are more exposed to contaminated food, such as when dining out or traveling, and the risk of whooping cough transmission can increase as contact between people becomes more frequent." He added, "In particular, adults may have immunity gaps depending on whether they have been vaccinated, so it is important to check in advance which vaccinations are needed, along with maintaining good personal hygiene."
[email protected] Jung Sang-hee Reporter