Whooping cough cases continued to soar in Japan with the cumulative figure reaching 43,728 so far this year, a more than tenfold increase on the approximately 4,000 cases reported for all of 2024, Kyodo News said Tuesday.

Preliminary data from the Japan Institute for Health Security showed that the number of cases reported by hospitals and clinics across the country reached a new weekly record of 3,578. The tally for the week through 6th July was the highest since the current survey method was employed in 2018.