From January to August this year, 97 cases of whooping cough have been recorded in Estonia, compared with just nine for the first eight months of 2023 – a 10.8-fold rise.

As well as whooping cough, other airborne diseases have seen a rise. Pneumococcal infections rose by 58.6 percent on year to the first eight months of 2024, with 184 cases. For the same period in 2023, the figure was 116, the board reports.

There has also been a rise in Haemophilus influenzae infections. The board reported cases 54 from January to August 2024, compared with 40 over the same period in 2023.

On the other hand, recorded infections of measles and mumps remained largely unchanged on year – three in each case for the first eight months of 2023, and three (measles) and four (mumps) cases in the same period in 2024

Meningococcal infections went down slightly, from six in 2023 to five in 2024, the board reports, and cases of scarlet fever, chickenpox, and Legionnaires' disease have all fallen on year too.

No cases of either diphtheria or rubella were reported in Estonia in either year.

HIV cases down by a quarter

HIV infections in Estonia fell on year to the first eight months of 2024, by 23 percent. A total of six new cases were diagnosed.

So far this year, 2,191 cases of Lyme disease and 97 cases of tick-borne encephalitis have been recorded, the Health Board reported. This figure is largely unchanged from last year's.

Of note was the fact that Lyme disease cases – the disease is spread by ticks – were highest in absolute terms in Tallinn, with 547 cases recorded January-August this year.

Proportionately, the highest rates (per 100,000 residents) were found in the much more rural areas of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa.

Similarly, tick-borne encephalitis case numbers were highest in Tallinn, though the highest incidence rates were on Saaremaa and in the adjacent Lääne County, the board reported.

The Health Board reported a total of 143 imported disease cases this year, the commonest being campylobacter and salmonella, with 14 cases recorded of each.

The most frequent travel-related infection this year was the mosquito-borne dengue fever (18 cases reported), which had been contracted by people visiting countries including Brazil, Curaçao, Thailand, Vietnam, the Maldives, and the Dominican Republic.

There remains a present risk of monkeypox entering into Europe, including Estonia, the Health Board reported.

Sweden reported its first imported case of monkeypox on August 15. As of September 5, no secondary cases there had been identified.

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