• CHERYL G. CRUZ / GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Bacolod City has three cases of pertussis, or whopping cough, as confirmed by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), while the province of Negros Occidental logged two, in the first quarter of this year.
Dr. Grace Tan, head of the City Health Office Environmental Sanitation Division, said April 9, that two of the patients have been discharged, while one remained admitted, as of the Week 13 monitoring.
Tan added that barangays Tangub, Taculing, and Villamonte have one pertussis case each, all of them female infants one to three months old.
The CHO earlier sent four samples of probable pertussis cases to the RITM for laboratory confirmation, three of them from Bacolod and one from Negros Occidental. The case from the province later turned negative.
Provincial health officer, Dr. Girlie Pinongan, also reported that the positive cases of pertussis in Negros Occidental increased to two, with a month-old infant added to the list.
Pinongan also said there are 23 suspected cases of pertussis in Negros Occidental, as of April 8.
Tan stressed the importance of pertussis vaccination completion in children under two years old.
She added that CHO has been conducting mapping and catch-up immunization for unimmunized and infants with incomplete immunization zero to 23 months old.
Close contacts of confirmed cases have also been traced for antibiotic prophylaxis, while there was collaboration with PHO and infectious disease consultants for joint guidelines, advisory, and management of pertussis in Bacolod and Negros Occidental, Tan said.
Pertussis is a respiratory disease, and is transmitted from person to person through coughing or sneezing, the Department of Health said, adding that transmission may be prevented through good respiratory hygiene.
“Pertussis is treatable and preventable,” DOH6 director, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, had said, adding it is crucial for everyone to play their part, no matter how big or small, in stopping the spread of pertussis.
“By staying informed, vigilant, and immunized, we can safeguard the health and well-being, as well as the vulnerable members of the community. The DOH WV CHD strongly urges parents and caregivers to ensure that children receive the recommended vaccines for the first year of life,” Suba-an added.
The DOH6 Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit logged 89 cumulative cases of pertussis, 22 of these were laboratory-confirmed, from Jan. 1 to April 1 this year, with five deaths. | CGC, GPB
