• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Bacolod Local Health Board (LHB) has endorsed the purchase of 10,000 doses of Penta Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) vaccine, as the highly-urbanized city logged 13 pertussis cases since the start of this year.
The City Health Office (CHO) said that, of the confirmed cases of whooping cough, three were logged in Barangay Tangub, two in Taculing, and one each in Felisa, Sum-ag, Punta Taytay, Vista Alegre, Cabug, Granada, Handumanan, and Villamonte, as of May 11.
It said that pertussis is a vaccine preventable disease, but spreads easily from person to person through droplets from coughing and sneezing, and is most dangerous among infants.
Completion of pertussis vaccination in children under two years old is highly encouraged, the CHO said.
But the LHB, in a meeting May 21 presided over by city health officer, Dr. Ma. Carmela Gensoli, the Board’s vice-chairperson, noted that the last delivery of Penta Hib vaccine by the Department of Health for Bacolod was still last July 2023.
It said that local government units may procure vaccines to augment supplies from the central office, in case of limited supply of vaccines or stock-outs during outbreaks.
This is as per the DOH’s Interim Guidelines on the Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Reintegration (PDITR) strategy and outbreak response for pertussis and diphtheria, the LHB explained. | CGC
