BACOLOD City – The Provincial Health Office (PHO) of Negros Occidental is urging parents to have their children vaccinated against pertussis or whooping cough.
Children should complete their primary vaccination to be protected from diseases, according to Dr. Girlie Pinongan, PHO head.
The PHO also advised Negrenses to wear facemask at home, especially if a family member is coughing.
Also, observe preventive measures such as frequent hand-washing with soap and water or using alcohol-based sanitizers, it added.
Earlier, Pinongan confirmed that a suspected pertussis patient was confined at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in this city.
The patient, a two-month-old infant, was in stable condition.
The PHO is still awaiting the patient’s laboratory results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
Pertussis is highly contagious respiratory disease and children are especially vulnerable to the infection.
The symptoms can be mild for adults, however it can become severe among infants and young children.
Infection can be acquired primarily through direct contact with discharges from the respiratory mucus membranes of infected persons.
Pinongan advised those who are showing symptoms of pertussis such as runny nose, low-grade fever and cough to immediately consult a doctor.
In an advisory issued on March 15, the Department of Health Region 6 reported 18 pertussis cases in the region, indicating a 100 percent increase compared to the number of cases recorded in the same period last year. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
