Pertussis: 6 deaths due to disease recorded in Central Visayas, says DOH-7

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) confirmed on Tuesday that the region has recorded a total of 115 reported cases of pertussis from January to March this year.

This was confirmed by Dr. Eugenia Mercedes Cañal, regional epidemiologist of Regional Epidemiologist and Surveillance Unit in a news forum on Tuesday.

Of the 115 reported cases, 42 of which were confirmed cases of pertussis.

However, out of the number, six of these persons have died whose ages ranges from zero to two months old.

As of March 26, Cebu City has 35 cases as confirmed also by the city health department, Lapu-Lapu City has 15 cases, Mandaue City has 6, Bohol has 14, Cebu Province has 43, and Negros Oriental has 2, while Siquijor has none.

READ: What is pertussis (whooping cough)?

Prevention through vaccination

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes pertussis as whooping cough and is “a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis” that “spreads easily from person to person mainly through droplets produced by coughing or sneezing.”

Moreover, WHO said that pertussis is most dangerous among infants, and “is a significant cause of disease and death in this age group.”

Pertussis can be prevented through vaccination. Before, Cañal said that they had DTaP vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis.

And at present, they have a pentavalent vaccine, which according to the WHO, “provides protection to a child from five life-threatening diseases: Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib.”

“Naa unta na siya diha [ang vaccine] nga makaprevent unta’g pertussis in the first two months of life of the baby,” Cañal said.

(It should be there [the vaccine] that could have prevented pertussis in the first two months of life of the baby.)

She reiterated that pertussis had been considered as a vaccine-preventable disease.

“Nanggawas ni siya ang mga vaccine-preventable [diseases], nitaas siya because since 2018, niubos atoang bakuna. Niubos ang [number] sa mga bata nga dad-on sa inahan [sa health center] para magpabakuna,” she added.

(This came out, the vaccine-preventable [diseases], this went up since 2018, those, who got vaccinated, went down. It went down [the number] of kids, who were brought by their mothers [to the health center] to be vaccinated.)

The ideal percentage for herd immunity (population immunity) is 80 to 90 percent, according to Cañal, but it has been “breached” already because of the low immunization rate in the local government units (LGUs).

Central Visayas had only around 60 percent, Cañal said. The low immunization rate was attributed to the vaccine hesitancy of some people.

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Pertussis affects on children

Consequently, Cañal urged the parents to have their babies vaccinated against the vaccine-preventable disease. She also added that pertussis mostly would affect the children, not on adults.

“Please, mga inahan maluoy ta sa atong mga bata, sa atong mga anak. This is the only way to protect our children from these vaccine-preventable [diseases]. Gitawag siya’g vaccine-preventable because maprevent ni nato from happening,” she said.

(Please, you mothers, pity our kids, our kids. This is the only way to protect our children from these vaccine-preventable [diseases]. It is called vaccine-preventable because these can be prevented from happening.)

“Kung dili ta magpabakuna, kaning mga bataa mag sigeg gyud ni’g kasakit,” she added.

(If they will not be vaccinated, these kids will always be sick.)

Moreover, Cañal said that “pertussis is highly responsive to antibiotics” provided that the patient has been sent to the hospital immediately.

“Most of the time man gud dad-on [sa parents] nga five day[s] ang cough na niya nagluya na ang bata, nag sige na’g hilanat,” she said.

(Most of the time, [parents] would bring them five days when they already have a cough and the child is already weak and the child already had a fever.)

LGU has authority to declare an outbreak

The reported cases are considered “awakening” as per Cañal. However, despite the number, she said that the DOH had no authority to declare it an outbreak.

She said that only the LGU would have the authority to declare the outbreak because of the logistics, budget allocation, and manpower.

In case an LGU declares an outbreak, the DOH “would augment” whatever the LGU would need, Cañal said.

She urged the parents to proceed to the nearest health centers for the immunizations and vaccinations.

Cañal added that “there is no mandatory wearing of masks but there is an individual responsibility” for these cases.

As of March 9, DOH Spokesperson Eric Tayag said that there had been 167 cases of pertussis and 35 related deaths nationwide, with the majority occurring in Metro Manila, followed by Calabarzon and Central Visayas.

Some cities across the country, including Quezon City and Iloilo City, have already declared an outbreak. | with reports from Zeus Legaspi, Inquirer.net

Sources:
World Health Organization
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention